


The Anthology Presents: How To Change The Past

by skyking549



Series: The Anthology Presents [1]
Category: The Anthology Presents
Genre: Alternate Universe - After College/University, Blood and Injury, Character Death, Emotional Manipulation, F/F, F/M, Multiverse, Original Fiction, Time Loop, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:15:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 40
Words: 86,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26441026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skyking549/pseuds/skyking549
Summary: Kenny hasn't had a very easy time getting through college (considering that one year that she was psychologically manipulated by a Time Elemental). After finally obtaining her Associates Degree from ASU, she decides to take a gap year in Michigan. However just before her trip a man named Mercury begins a multi-continental attack with weapons unlike anything the world has ever seen. To make matters worse her future self has swapped places with her in the past. Kenny and her girlfriend Ash go on a cross country adventure to set the timeline right and stop Mercury from bringing about the end of time as they know it. But he won't go down without a fight, and they have absolutely no clue what kind of monster they are truly up against.
Series: The Anthology Presents [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1922014





	1. Prologue: A Necessary Evil to Avoid Unnecessary Confusion.

**Author's Note:**

> Act 1: The Problem

I usually don’t go for a prologue however this story may warrant one. It isn’t so much that it’s difficult to understand; just a simply a matter of etiquette. At least a small amount of knowledge will be needed to fully understand the depth of what I intend to tell you.

Time Travel was invented in 1983. This feels a tad far-fetched considering you haven’t seen it's effects in your daily life. Though I wouldn’t really consider standing in your living room with friends saying, “If I invent time travel I’ll come back to this exact time riiiiiiiiiight… now…”, as an actual effort to observe time distortions in the world around you. I won’t be koy though and I’ll say that it really wouldn’t matter as most people can’t perceive, nor remember, any change or distortion once a timeline is changed. Any alteration will be mostly rewritten in people's memories. The bigger the distortion the harder it is to re-write, however if a distortion is big enough no one will forget the old timeline. It will stick out like a sore thumb.

On November 8th, 1983 time travel was invented, not by the worlds biggest brightest minds in science and mathematical theory employed by governments all over the globe. It was actually discovered by an engineer held at gunpoint in a small cottage in an underground cavern. The engineer was named Isaac Formand a brilliant man, he would have created time travel regardless of circumstances but this was a bit accelerated. Under normal circumstances he would have created time travel in his late 70’s in the year 2023. He would have spent years developing a mathematical theorem to record distortions in time only to find that time has nothing to do with math. Time is a matter of nature. He would discover the existence of roots that excrete time as a form of mythical energy. He spent years, after discovering these roots, developing a technology that could absorb and utilise this potential renewable energy. However no one in the timeline will remember these events. As this is a small deviation in this Universe's timeline.

An example of a big deviation in history would be if someone tried to change the timeline back to what it was in the first place. In our current time Issac was being held prisoner in a small basement, being told the extravagant nature of the world they lived in. A 'shortcut' of sorts. His captor only needed to provide answers to Issac's questions and he could shortcut the timeline and a time machine was constructed in a matter of 6 months.

Isaac developed a type of fuse that could contain and extract the energy excreted by the roots. Two months of research later Isaac has a perfected working time machine though big and bulky at first. A large spaceship-esque craft that could push an individual into the past or future. He made it the size he did because while he could have made it smaller the sacrifice was accuracy. The smaller the quantum tunnel the less control the user would have of their destination and time. A problem that could be rectified in later models of "Time Machine'.

Azazeroth applauded loudly, laughing as he did. Grinning a sly humorless grin he addressed his guest.

"Oh yes yes yes yes yes. Good job Isaac you have done it. It's perfect!" His grey skin cracked around his cheeks as he smiled the cracks growing and shrinking and wriggling around his face.

"I was a bit hesitant with this at first but by god we have harnessed the power contained in Ley Lines! A working Chrono Fuse that can send users to any point on the existing timeline." Isaac tried his hardest to ignore Azazeroths face. "Now that the work is done what did you intend to do with it?"

"Oh it's not of much use to me personally. But I do hope you have made your notes easy enough to comprehend."

"Oh yes just like you said make it sweet and simple so it can be replicated in the event of my de…" a shot fired off from behind Azazeroth… well… more through Azazeroth… but that fact is neither here nor there. Isaac was dead.

Mercury advanced from the shadow holding the literal smoking gun.

"Welp I guess it's time to get started!" Mercury blows into his revolver to clear the barrel.

"Well.. it's a little late to have him explain the work to you. But yes. It's about time."

"Yeah well what's done is done. I'm an impulse buy you knew what we were getting into."

"You'll hear no complaints from me. I just want to know that you will be able to replicate it."

"Hey even if I can't we have a team back at the base. I'm a soldier not a scientist."

"Indeed…" Azazeroth turned and began to leave the cavern.

"Hey! Where are you going!"

"I have a face to uphold if I fucked off for 40 years they would notice."

"I guess so, and as long as our secret stays between us, we will be fine yeah? Your omniscient bastard friends won't interfere?"

"You may run into trouble but not from all of them."

Azazeroth looks beyond the vale at me. I tremble with uncertainty.

"Well what do we do if they start poking around?"

Azazeroths face twisted to face Mercury, "As long as they don't suspect my involvement they are bound to not get involved. They will be almost forced to do nothing. As long as my name stays out of it. Plus our friendly neighborhood narrator, Axolo, the Saggitarius won't interfere."

"Okay I can accept that answer."

He nods "So if they become a problem kill them." His grey skin cracked violently down the center of his face with his emotionless grin and dead soulless eyes.

Azazeroth turned and left the cavern. Mercury stood and pondered his next move for nearly 45 minutes. 

I won’t leave a cliffhanger here, it would be cliche. Mercury, once he regained his confidence to work he began the transfer of the giant time machine to multiple facilities. Smuggling the information and equipment to factories in order to mass produce the machine. The only big flaw was how long it would take to do this. Roughly 10 years before the undergrounds most formative scientists understood and could replicate the time machines. This was because most of them spent a few years trying to prove that the blueprint was inefficient.

Mercury was the “face” of the new organization forming. In 1998 he determined a name for them “The Chrono-Illuminati”. This would be a name that was used internally until 2023. 

In 1995 two important children were born on the same day, nearly at the exact same time. The time between their cries was 50 milliseconds. One was a small boy named Caleb, the second was a girl named Kenny. Caleb’s father was a member of the “Chrono-Illuminati” as one of their head researchers, his breakthroughs in Isaac’s work was immense. In 1999 he would invent a more accurate Time Machine from Isaac’s blueprints. He believed that he would; not only be able to determine the landing date, time, and location but also found a way to move the machine with the user so they could use the same machine to get back. However it didn’t work. Well it didn’t work to his standards. What it actually did was it imbued the traveler with pure Time Energy straight from the Ley Lines(The Roots) and sent them to traverse the timeline undying.

In 2000 Caleb’s father had his first and only test on this particular machine. The unprompted test involved Caleb wandering into the basement and falling into the machine. This event would have it’s own consequences but not any that would affect this story. So I will delve into those events at another date. But what matters is the first and only Chrono Elemental was created using a 4 year old boy.

Kenny on the other hand lived beyond the year 2000, and graduated college in the year 2023. With a Bachelors of Science and had been leaning toward theoretical physics for a continuing major. She wasn’t particularly smart or outstanding - she just went with the flow. After a very rough college period she had decided to move out of Arizona. And that is where we will pick up in the Story.

Kenny attempted to move to a house in Michigan. To take a Gap Year.


	2. Chapter 1: A Farewell to the First Last Day of the Rest of Her Life.

Kenny woke up on July 29th, 2023. She was living with her parents since her graduation, they knew about her intention to move. She strained herself to get out of bed, she was exceedingly sore from a hangover. Her room was a mess considering that she was planning to move. She had a lot of dirty clothes on the floor, her CD’s were in a disorganised pile in the corner, and a stack of pizza boxes leaned precariously in the closet. Her television was in storage along with her movies and games. Most of her life was packed up but she was procrastinating. Moving was a stressful process. With a house lined up in a small quaint town she intended to spend a year in Michigan for a break. Throwing on some pajama pants and a band T-shirt she embarked on a brief quest to take a shower.

She walked out into the hallway groggy as hell complete with; blurring vision, tipsy walking, and yawning the whole nine yards. She was surprised to find out it was 10 AM. Her parents were preparing a late breakfast. They liked having Kenny around for the past two months but were growing increasingly more and more worried about the move to Michigan. It was a very big difference from Arizona. The terrible insurance laws to begin with. The small town life as opposed to the big city life and Kenny was also more reckless as an adult compared to her quiet life as a teenager. She didn’t talk about her college life much; they had very little to go on other than “Well I survived.”

“Morning!” Marcus opened a fresh jar of jam. The pop was a bit louder than Kenny was ready for.

“Hello, Yes, hi. Sorry. Not quite awake.”

“Do I need to make an extra plate?” He asked her

“I mean… probably.” her tone was less unsure and more embarrassed. She had come home pretty late last night with a friend.

“Did you have fun?” he winked.

“Marcus don’t be weird.” Valerie was sitting on the couch.

Kenny laughed a bit “Morning Mom.”

“Morning Darling. Have you cleaned up the stuff in your room?”

“Not quite. It probably got a bit messier. I’ll make sure the room is tidy before I leave”

“Val it’ll be okay. I’m sure it’s more homey to have a small mess.”

“Exactly.” Kenny added.

“Okay that’s fine. I’m just worried that you won’t be ready for the move.”

“I promise I'll be ready.”

Val turned on the news. It was a piece about children not having enough crayons in public schools.

Kenny wasn’t really watching the news she was smelling the bacon. She walked around the island countertop to check on the food. 

“How much time do I have until breakfast is ready?”

“Probably 20 minutes. I need to start the pancakes.” Marcus flipped the bacon. The grease popped violently,  
“I'm not sure that is enough time for a shower.” 

“Your hair is so short though Kenny. How long could a shower really take?” Valerie mentioned 

“I just like the warm water. So I lose track of time.” 

“You are valid.”

“When did you guys start using ‘Millennial lingo’?” Kenny asserted.

“Some time last year your mother read an article about bonding with the new age. By understanding the way they communicate.”

“Does it actually help with clients?”

“I think it does.” Valerie turned up the TV just a few notches.

Kenny hugged her parents then walked down the hall to take a shower. She had to walk back past her room where Ash was asleep. She poked her head in the room Ash was playing on her phone.

Kenny cleared her throat. Ash looked up.

“You are staying for breakfast.” Kenny noted

“A’ight.” She looked around. “Have you seen my shirt?” 

“Was yours the Gorillaz shirt or the Logic shirt.”

“Gorillaz.”

“I'm wearing it. You can pick something out from the closet.”

Ash nodded. Ash had long brown hair. She was a punk girl with a lot of piercings of many varieties. Kenny wasn’t sure how many exactly but then again she hadn’t kept count. 

Ash had four ear piercings on each ear, two snake bites, one eyebrow piercing over her left eye, a navel piercing and a tongue ring. She also had a tattoo sleeve on her right arm and a cat on her left hip playing with a ball of yarn. Ash had met Kenny during the last year of college and graduated together. Both were interested in physics which was merely a coincidence. Most of this had been a coincidence. They didn’t really have a name or a label on the relationship. Especially since Kenny was moving away for a year. It was difficult for Ash to want to be attached. Not to say she wasn't already attached. Ash didn't want to fully admit feelings.

“I’m gonna take a shower and I'll meet up with you at breakfast.”  
Kenny ran over quickly to give her a peck on the cheek. Ash smiled and went back to her phone; speaking over the phone she asked, “Can we talk after breakfast?”

“Sure.” Kenny left the room.

*********

After Kenny’s shower she joined the other three in the dining room for breakfast. The news was still playing in the background. Breakfast was mostly quite small talk and overall uninteresting banter.

Afterwards Marcus and Val went outside for a while they would be outside for roughly an hour. The moment they stepped out Kenny began dishes and Ash spoke up while Kenny was trapped at the sink.

“So with you moving and all what is the plan for whatever… this is...”

Kenny tried not to be distracted by the dishes “Well that depends. What do you want to do?”

Ash was quiet

Kenny spoke up after about 30 seconds. “I like you, but I need a break from people. I'm still not in a good place after college.”

“Yeah, well no offense but no one knows what happened except you.”

“Yeah, I know. I won’t talk about it.”

If you are curious as to why I won't tell you what happened during that time it is out of respect to Kenny, she doesn’t want to share it. So until she does I won’t be able to assist in that matter.

“I’m not asking you to. I just want you to understand it's kinda rude to make choices for other people based on bad experiences.”

“Are we really going to fight right now.” Kenny was getting worried.

Ash rubbed her face with both hands gently. “No, I’m just having trouble understanding why you don’t want me to come with you. I’d like a year away too, I could help you pay bills.”

“I don’t want to be the reason that you move across the country. What happens if we get in a fight? I can’t and won't just send you back.”

Ash was quiet. “Then why are you going specifically to Michigan.”

“It’s a polar opposite of where I'm at right now. I think that it will help me figure out my life.”

“I just think it would be an easier transition for you if you have someone around to help make it easier. Instead of isolation.”

“Maybe...”

“I’m not saying that you have to bring me along. I just don't want to wait a year for you to get back. Long distance isn't my favorite idea.”

“I won’t make you do long distance. I just...” Kenny was suddenly interrupted by the television, it got surprisingly loud to her like auditory tunnel vision. Ash simply watched her go silent.

The news had changed without warning. A bright red banner sprawled across the screen with white letters in all caps.

“Live Countrywide Alert: Multiple Terrorist Attacks in Bay City Michigan, Manhattan New York, Tallahassee Florida, and Atlanta Georgia.” 

The Newscaster was speaking in a calm but panicked voice. They had an extreme day as it was - let alone having to report an ongoing terrorist attack - and even without going into it the exhaustion on her face was clear as day.

“At this time we are unsure of the damages, or the full scope of the situation. Local officials and police as well as SWAT teams are working to fight back the attack. We do have a visual from a brave cameraman viewing the assault on Manhattan… Warning the images you are about to see are extremely graphic and viewer discretion is advised.” the camera switched to a first person viewing.

Kenny dried off her hands and walked over to the television, Ash followed curiously attempting to discern what had dragged her away from their talk.

On the screen civilians were screaming and running in a multitude of directions into clouds of debris or smoke. Men in SWAT uniforms were opening fire in a direction off screen. Suddenly a tiny blue explosion of sorts flew off of one of the SWAT Gunners as he simply vanished from sight. There was nobody, no viscera, just poof he was gone. The SWAT team was disappearing one by one: leaving no trace.

Ash briefly interrupted with a whisper. “What the fuck is...”

The cameraman changed angles and sprinted to the opposite side of the battlefield. They had hoped to catch a glimpse of the terrorists. They found a safe space behind a small wall of broken concrete to avoid being seen; holding the camera up above the wall to try to show the battlefield in totality. The opposition had men in light kevlar to prevent major bullet wounds and were holding different shapes and sizes of guns, swords, shields, rocket launchers, Grenades: all of which looked like they had blue or red veins. It was a full scale attack with a new and unknown technology. Suddenly. Flash of red light burned across the screen; once it cleared a tall man had mysteriously appeared. He was heavily underdressed, no armor that could be even remotely used as protection. The demeanor he exuded was commanding and powerful. As the strange man pulled a sword from a sheath, helicopters and tanks had begun to surround him and his band of misfits. The terrorists lobbied a front line who pulled pins on some grey veined grenades. The explosion threw a multitude of soldiers backward but suddenly stopped them midair with shock and pain on their faces. Perpetually stuck: frozen in time. 

“Kenny. What the fuck is this. What just happened.” Ash grabbed Kenny’s hand. Kenny didn’t stop looking at the TV simply squeezing her hand to let Ash know she was there and listening.

A group of terrorist swordsmen carrying a variety of red and blue swords charged headlong into the fray. The blue made people disappear upon immediate skin contact. The red was harder to see, between the distance and the shaky cam it was difficult to see what was happening in detail. The camera turned back to the terrorists who were lobbing blue grenades at buildings. Wherever the explosion hit a chunk of the building would suddenly stop existing, so the structure of several buildings began collapsing. The dust and debris obstructing the camera view. Suddenly another red flash and the tall underdressed man vanished from the frey. The camera man suddenly screamed and violently fell to the ground. The camera dropped to the ground detailing the tall man's physical appearance. He had short blond hair and carried an expression of pure disinterest and boredom. The cameraman backed himself into the wall he had been previously hiding behind. The mystery assailant dragged his red sword across the innocent man's cheek. The cameraman began screaming in agony as his face began aging rapidly. Starting from the origin of the cut his face wrinkled and spread over the entirety of his face and chest. He screamed and writhed until his skin began decaying and turning to nothing but dust and bones. His hands were still entirely young and human. Then the feed went to static. 

Kenny stared at the screen anxiously, in the midst of the static she could just barely see the reflection of the room she and Ash were in. She saw Ashs' hand and the fear in both of their eyes. Kenny also saw a man about their height standing directly behind her. A chill ran down her spine. She turned her whole body around hard and fast, the shadowy figure was not visibly behind her. Ash watched Kenny jerk her whole body to look behind her. Kenny was unfocused, her eyes rapidly darting around the room and shaking: vibrating even. Ash couldn’t determine whether this was from fear, anger or even pain: it was all of them.

Kenny turned her eyes to the screen; he was still there. The image was fuzzier and harder to see making her squint to try and clear the image in her mind. An image flashed across the whole screen for roughly .25 seconds but it was enough she knew who it was. His blond scraggly hair and his bright brown eyes; his solemn emptiness; his pain. He was unmistakable to her.

In a type of spiritual assault her head wrung with severe pain. The pain began at the back of her skull and wrapped around to the front it was dull and sharp simultaneously a pain best described as incomparably intense. The pain made her lose feeling in her legs as she fell to her knees clutching her skull. 

“Kenny are you...” was all she could get out before Kenny keeled over grabbing her head screaming.

“FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK” she began screaming and swearing incessently just the one word over and over her eyes growing bloodshot. She felt like her brain was swelling and attempting to explode. Tears of pain streamed down her face. Saliva dripping from her lips, eyes bulging and bloodshot this happened for about 30 seconds which was roughly 25 seconds more than Ash could emotionally handle. For the first time in a while Kenny was scared that someone was trying to kill her. After another moment the pain ended and she fell unconscious.

“What happened?” Val and Marcus stormed into the room as fast as they could and found Kenny on the floor covered in spit and tears. Her blue eyes had changed color to a stiff lifeless grey. 

She was breathing, she had a pulse but was out for a while. There was no telling what had happened; they contemplated the possibility that she needed to be taken to a doctor. The main reason for hesitation was the unknown for her insurance. Ash reasoned that since she was unconscious it was unlikely that she herself was in pain anymore. She stayed by Kenny for the entire duration of her blackout; contemplating what she would do. 

After a few hours Ash noticed that Kenny was whispering something through her lips. Most of it sounded like gibberish and breathy mumbling only managing to put together one full word.

"Mercury"

She stopped talking and jerked upright. 

"Oh my god Kenny. Are you okay?" Ash stood as fast as she could.

Kenny rubbed her face and looked around her.

"This again. Okay." She didn’t look at Ash or address her; this comment was more toward the setting rather than toward a person. Grasping her bearings so to speak.

"Kenny?" Ash needed a confirmation of safe health. A pit in her stomach lurched uncomfortably.

"Hey Ash…" She was groggy and the room spun. "We need to go." She put her hand on Ash for balance and tried to pull herself up off the couch. Ash did her best to support Kenny's weight. She had been semi-unprepared for Kenny to try and stand so suddenly.

"No we can't leave you are hurt… I think."

"Yes I am that is why we need to go. I need you to drive."

"Where am I taking you? Hospital?"

"There is a Ley Line in Utah. I need to get there."

Ash stood baffled, lost, and rather uncomfortable. She cared about Kenny but she didn't know how to handle her under these unusual circumstances. Her brain was firing at a million intervals a second trying desperately to find a way to bring some sense to this situation. What was a Ley Line? Why did she need to go there? What had hurt her? Why in Utah? Why was she acting so weird? What was "Mercury" in the context it was spoken? What is the point? Why won't she bring me to Michigan but she will drag me to Utah? Who is this girl? Why am I trying so hard? Why don't I just leave her to her own bullshit already?

Kenny reached over and fell into Ash's arms in an embrace hugging her tightly.

"Ash I promise it will be okay." She kissed her softly. "I'll explain what I can on our way to Utah.

Sensing a bargain about to take place Ash jumped on instinct. "Promise you'll bring me with you when you move."

"Are you sure you will want to move in with me after a fit like this?"

"No, but you are stubborn and you are still going to go so I want to keep an eye on you. Especially if shit like this is going to happen again!"

Kenny nodded and gave a weak smile. "Well it looks like you have me pinned."

Ash felt a wave of relief mixed with a twinge of guilt.

"Okay you sit here for a bit. I'm going to help you pack. When do you want to go?"

"Um… well mom and dad are in their room right now…" she checked her phone "they will be back out in 15 minutes so we need to leave in 14."

"You don't wanna say goodbye?"

"They will insist I go to a hospital and that is an absolute waste of time right now."

"What is the hurry? I mean maybe a quick check up wouldn't be bad, you went down pretty hard." Ash suggested.

Kenny rolled her eyes self consciously and sighed lightly. "I'm gonna have to tell you eventually. Might as well get it over with." She took a deep breath. "I'm not Kenny from July 28, 2023. I'm Kenny from August 15, 2023. I need to get her back to her body before we get killed."

Ash stood only for a moment to take in this knowledge. With a motivated head nod she left to pack Kenny’s belongings. They left almost immediately after grabbing all of Kenny’s clothes and CD’s. Planning to stop by the store for food and at Ash’s house to grab clothes for her. Soon they were on their way to Zion National Park. 

During the 1860’s Mormon settlers made base at this location because they believed it to be “The Promised Land.” This wasn’t completely false; it is a special land but not for the reasons they pitched tents. The reality was that humans tended to create civilization near Ley Lines; a feeling of energy or magic flowed into those civilizations and made them prosper and profitable.

Large cities aren’t all connected to a Ley Line but a mass majority were and once a Ley Line was depleted it would lead to a large scale destructive force obliterating life: think ‘City of Troy’ level of destruction. The Ley Line in Arizona was actually mostly depleted. If there were to be any interaction with it all of Tempe, Phoenix, and East Mesa would fall victim to a mass disaster. From personal experience Kenny was aware of the weak Ley Line and didn’t need to unnecessarily endanger the state or its inhabitants, so she opted to use a clean Ley Line at the risk of lost time.

This was her ‘Reality’.


	3. Chapter 2: The Realization That Flames Must Come Before Ash.

Bielebog sat in a strip club called “Gemini” just off from the Vegas Strip. He could be typically found bumping coke on his leather sofa in the back office. 

He actually owned the club, believe it or not. It was mostly a front for cocaine but he believed that there was no better mixture than coke and large breasted women. Standing as the strongest coke runner in Nevada; Gemini thrived at the hands of Bielebog and his twin Czernobog. Gemini was practically a landmark, as much as a Strip Joint could be considered a landmark.

The date was July 28, 2023. The terrorist attack had been ongoing for 3 hours. Business ,however, would continue uninterrupted… well “uninterrupted.” Bielebog himself liked to dip into his own supply which was considered business unless someone came to him with a problem. This was at a time during his life where Gemini ran itself. Realistically his job was to deal with Gemini's interruptions, so he was perpetually interrupted until something went wrong then his job would resume after which he would go back to interruptions. Today wasn’t any different to him terrorist attack or not. It wasn’t his problem he figured “No matter who owns the land they will have a need for liquor, drugs, and company.” That was exactly what he intended to supply.

“Boss!” a brown haired lackey in a suit entered the back room, the pink lights shining off of his tie, which was a bedazzled white. All of the employees wore that tie while on duty at the Gemini.

“Yeeeaaaah?” Bielebog’s voice dry and uninterested, he grabbed a large serrated hunting knife off the glass table in front of him. He pushed some snow onto the blade of the knife.

“We have a guest causing a scene.” he said more than calmly.

“Have the bouncer remove them.” he snorted his line.

“He is currently holding one of the Dancers at a table threatening to remove fingers if and I quote “you don’t blow me like the sleazy whore you are!”.” The man explained.

Bielebog exhaled loudly, not at the information, at the coke. 'Biel' slammed the hunting knife, blade first, into his own leg down to the hilt. “Sleazy huh?” unflinching he stood up and walked with the finely suited employee toward a group table with three jock looking Military types. ‘Typical’ Bielebog thought to himself.

“Come on whore we paid you good money, come on we’ve been nice, come on why not give us a little extra so we are more inclined to come back.”

“Let go of my wrist, my boss is coming. I’m a dancer not a whore.” She pulled her wrist which was being held fast by one of the three men. This particular gentleman had a problem with women; divorced twice, abusive, angry perpetually. A regular at other clubs but decided to splurge on his birthday and go high end. Which landed him and his two friends at the Gemini. This was his general attitude at clubs that he didn’t frequent. It’s easier to exploit and get what you want if you don’t plan to show your face there again. He held The Dancer’s arm with his left hand and a switchblade in his other.

“Come on, we will pay more if you want it. You probably have a kid or two at home to feed right. I’ll take good care of them for you.” It could be said his friends were innocent in this situation. They had actually been more or less respectful during the lap dances which, based on the amount of glitter on their wrinkled work suits, was more than a few. When the birthday boy got a tad heated, however, they didn’t know how to calm him down. Not to say that they tried. It could have also been argued that they were just as guilty as him for not stepping to the dancers defence.

Bielebog hopped over the couch between the birthday boy and the friend to his left; wrapping his arms around both of their shoulders. 

“Who the fuck?” The man said, he had yet to notice the knife in Bielebog’s leg. He would see it soon.

“He'Buddy', What’s your name?” the Boss snarked.

“I’m Henry, what the fuck do you wan’t can’t you see I’m busy?”

“Oh yes, Henry, I can see how busy you are! I’m the owner of 'The Gemini'! Bielebogs' the name, good to meet you.” He lifted his legs onto the table, for comfort, gently pushing a few empty glasses aside.

Henry took a good look at the man who’d intruded on his birthday party. He was a tall looking fellow with bright pink hair. Henry reasoned that his hair was because of the lighting; which was untrue; Bielebog’s hair is naturally pink. He was in black punk jeans with chains hanging off of anything that could hold a chain. The pants were tight looking but the man clearly had no problem maneuvering in them if he leapt over the couch. His torso donned a black vest that had more hanging chains, no shirt under it, the vest entirely unbuttoned. In terms of body mass Biel was fairly well built. The vest had a hood that was actively left down, the rim was lined with faux fur. He looked stereotypically edgy. A single gold dangling earring that looked like a weird curved capital "I". 

Once Henry set eyes on the hunting knife the fear set in. An employee had discreetly placed a cloth under his leg to catch drips of blood from hitting the floor. In fact when he looked around employees were draping a lot of the floor and other nearby objects with cloths.  
“Oh… Nice place! It’s my first time.” Panic had begun to set in. His human instinct of flight was setting off alarms in his mind left and right.

“I can tell, angsty virgins tend to get violent here.”

Henry stammered, The dancer laughed under her breath “Hey! You knew what I meant!”

“Touchy, touchy… Can’t even take a joke Henry?”

“It wasn’t very funny.”

“Well I apologize!” Bielebog placed his left hand neatly over his chest and bowed slightly to convey sincerity. “So what brings you to my establishment?” 

“I… It's my birthday.” Henry began stumbling, he felt the air of discomfort washing over him.

“Oh! Well Happy Birthday!" Bielebog paused to allow his wishes to reach Henry. "So I heard you have a complaint about the service of my Dancers? Are they not doing their job?” 

“Well… I mean… we were… kind of… I… Well the dancing was great, but we just wanted to order… I guess off the menu.”

“Oh the standard ‘Off Menu’ I understand...” he turned to look at the employee who had brought him over.

“Edgar, tell me do we have an ‘Off Menu’ birthday package?”

“No Sir!” he was quick and polite. Bielebog raised an eyebrow at Henry.

“So what do we offer for Birthdays Edgar?”

“One free full song sir.”

“I see...” he shifted his gaze at Henry to the dancer, “Gabriella could you please tell me if you provided 'Birthday Boy' here his gift package?”

“Yes Sir.” She was quick and polite.

“Okay, and how many songs did they buy after the birthday dance?”

“From me, three or four, but two other girls were over here during that time.” Gabriella pointed to two girls, one was dancing for another, unconcerned, customer, the other was walking between the stages. Boss nodded.

“Tina and Trish can confirm you three all worked with this group! Wonderful that sounds like services rendered to me Henry!” Biel gazed back at Henry.

“Yes… Yes it does, I'm sorry for the trouble.”

“Hey we all get a little drunk and horny no shame in that. However there is one other thing we should discuss, your language toward my employee, I heard you called her sleazy?”

“Oh no… I mean I called her a whore… but i'm drunk… as you said. It was a simple mistake really?”

“Edgar? You told me he called her sleazy? Did you lie about that?”

“No Sir.” Edgar flashed a brief smile making no eye contact with Henry during his response.

“Okay I just wanted to make sure, because, you said you were quoting word for word, so I didn't want to misunderstand.” Bielebog pulls a gun with his left arm and passes it to his right hand pointing it nonchalantly at Edgar.

“Henry, are you implying that Edgar here is lying to me? If so, I’m gonna have to kill him right here and now. I can’t have liar's working at Gemini now can I.” Edgar doesn’t move or look at the gun.

“I.. I.. Mean.. ”

“Gabriella? Did Edgar lie to me? Did Henry call you sleazy?”

“Henry called me sleazy.” She nervously wrapped her left arm around herself.

“Damn I thought I’d finally get to shoot you Edgar?”

“Maybe next time sir.” Edgar laughed a little.

Bielebog clicked his tongue and tapped the barrel on the couch in sync. Passing the piece to his left hand and moving to reholster; Biel cocked it instead, launching a bullet from the chamber, reloading a fresh one into the barrel. At the blink of his eye, Henry felt the cold metal of the barrel against his head. He didn’t breathe, he didn’t move, his heart rate sharply rose. Panic continued plaguing him in full force ‘I'm going to die’ he thought.

“Henry, look at Gabriella, she's tan, has beautiful breasts, she's clean, healthy, is confident in herself and her work. Are you calling her sleazy?” Biel tussled with Henrys' bangs.

“I… I didn’t mean it.”

“Do you think any part of this establishment is sleazy? I’m not looking for sheep here, I'm looking for feedback fucker!” Bielebog's voice rising with each syllable turning heads toward the commotion.

“No, this is really really nice, it’s a beautiful joint you have gorgeous dancers! I wasn’t thinking please forgive me.”

“Don’t apologize to me.” Grabbing Henry’s hair he jerked him up by his head. They both stood. Bielebog pulled on Henry forcing him to look at Gabriella’s wrist which was bruised slightly already. “You have assaulted one of my employees and now she can’t work until her arm is better. Are you going to pay for that? Is your meager four dances going to pay for a week of wages? Apologise to Gabriella!” Bielebog jerked him up to look at Gabriella. He had begun sobbing and weeping, snot dripping from his nose.

“I… I *huff* *sniff* I'm S.. sss.. Sorr..sorry.”

“Good Boy.” Boss turned him around and handed him a napkin to wipe down his face, while Boss wiped down his dress coat of wrinkles he may have inflicted. “Thank you for your patronage.”

“Th… Thanks… f… for hosting.”

“You’re welcome!” Then Bielebog shot him point blank in the forehead. Anyone not watching definitely was now. The towels placed earlier caught the body and blood. A waiter came around to clean up glasses and began wiping down the couch. The two who had accompanied Henry didn’t look at his body but they knew what he was gone. Overcome with shock at Henrys' death they froze stiffly.

“Get out.” Bielebog waved his gun to signal them to leave. As if they were suddenly awoken from a coma they stood without a word and left in a hurry. He reholstered his gun and inspected Gabriella’s wrist.

“God damn it, he fucked up your arm. That isn’t a good look for business.”

“Sorry sir!” she got a bit tense. Bielebog was unusually protective and gentle toward his staff. They never really felt endangered by him. 

“Not your fault. He was a wife beater anyway. Alright… well you need to take a few days off for the bruising to clear up. So go get dressed and go home. I’ll have you paid for short term medical wages. Your check shouldn’t be affected by this.”

“Thank you Boss. I’ll get ready now, I’ll see you on monday.”

“See you monday.”

“Okay if anyone needs me I’m gonna be doing coke in the back.” Bielebog went back to his interruptions.

**********************

It was 2 AM July 29, 2023 and Kenny had fallen asleep. Ash liked watching her sleep because she was calm, and at peace. So often she found Kenny struggling to hold on to whatever life she had scrounged up and it was nice to see her be at ease. Ash understood the need to find life after a trauma. In fact a good part of Ash’s life had been trying to pick up the broken pieces of her childhood.

She grew up in Superior, Wisconsin. When she was born life was a blessing for her parents. Then had a small house they were considered ‘Sunday Christians’; a family that went to church but lived their social life regardless of the rules of their scripture. They at least tried to uphold a face of unwavering belief. Her father Gabriel was a decent father, hadn't hit his wife or kids, provided for them with a high paying marketing job. Instead doctors found he struggled with a personal darkness. His wife supported his trips to therapy and understood his lethargic behavior a lot of the time. He suffered from debilitating depression, and mild psychosis including auditory hallucinations voices, asking him to commit crimes, violate friends or co-workers. The voices always doubted him, telling him how he wasn’t good enough to accomplish his goals. Constantly barraged with stress and excess noise, he took medication for his symptoms.

Even with these symptoms his whole life he'd managed to live a relatively normal life. On more than one occasion, however, he could recount his medication wearing off in the middle of a meeting that ran late. In these situations he'd swallow his pitches for another opportunity. It was hard to talk and present ideas with voices talking over him.

Not all of the voices were bad. Some even interacted with each other, though the nice ones were always quieter than the angry ones.

Ash had noticed his behavior at the early age of 6 and often described his behavior as quiet yet erratic. She often wondered if he felt anything for her at all. Adrian, her mother, would pull Ash away on the rougher days and explain that “Daddy just had a hard day at work. He loves you very much, we both do.” Which was correct, he loved his family more than anything. They had a second child when Ash turned 8. A baby girl named Beatrice. As the weight of having two children sunk in, costs became harder and time was less frequent for Gabriel and Adrian, meaning that Gabriel had to cut back on a few of his therapy sessions to help with the kids. Old habits started slipping and he started having a lot more bad days. They fought more frequently. He was saddened and angry. On more than one occasion he surrendered to the tame voices telling him to ‘Just break a plate. You’ll feel better!’ or ‘Just slam this door! You can afford to let off some steam.’

He fought back the worst; but like a vehicle going 60 over black ice; he began to slip. By the time that she had turned 6 she had described him as cold and scary. Ash was informed by her mother about his condition by the time she turned 14. It was a necessary evil considering he was on an unfortunate decline. Adrian had begun to look into places for the kids to stay temporarily in an attempt to give Gabriel some time to get back on the wagon. No one was willing to watch the kids for her; not for the full duration needed in order for Gabriel to recover. It would have only been a semester to get him back with his therapist and get his meds re-balanced however most families simply didn’t see the problematic signs. People felt they had no business raising another family's children. Money was tighter than ever and so the stress to ensure he was making sales, and closing deals was stronger than ever. The stress ate away at him. By the time Ash was 16 Gabriel had stopped taking his medication all together.

Ash, at the age of 13, began to fall into puberty and started finding a strong connection toward women. Where most of the girls at her school would talk with her about their interest in boys from their class; she felt left out of the conversation. Entirely unsure what her friends would think left an impression of fear. What do you do when you are the only girl not interested in boys? By the age of 15 she came to terms with her sexuality when she kissed Madison Springs under the bleachers at a football game. She felt confident about the subject for the first time and stopped feeling a need to hide who she was. It didn’t stop most of the guys at school from talking about her and trying to ‘convince her’ that men were better. She didn’t care. She didn’t see anything wrong with herself. After that game she rushed straight home and told her mom in a giddy frenzy. Adrian didn’t say anything about it. She just hugged her daughter. They ate dinner like a family and Ash felt home. Ash doesn’t remember anymore but she was happy enough that she cried that night.

Over summer break, after finishing her sophomore year at high school, her life began to deteriorate. Just a few weeks before school would start again. Adrian and Gabriel got in the largest fight they'd ever had. Ash didn’t know the full extent of the argument. It was about money, Gabriel made an offshoot comment about how they would have more money if he killed his boss and took his job. Adrian hated when he talked like that. It made her sad. They argued for a few hours. When he stormed out of the house. Adrian cried herself to sleep. 

Ash woke up when her dad dragged her out of bed by her left foot. She started by asking what was going on. Seeing the rage in his eyes she immediately felt fear. Screaming for her mom she was dragged past their bedroom. Ash heard banging and screaming from the other side. The door was locked from the outside, a chair held the handle upright. All the screaming only served to wake Beatrice who bravely ventured into the living room. Gabriel threw the girls into the coat closet and turned the lock.

Gabriel had drunk significantly after the fight. So much so in fact that he crashed the car and suffered a major head trauma when his head bounced off of the steering wheel. He was only a block away from the house when the crash took place. Once home there was almost nothing left of the personality that could have been described as Gabriel. Just a sick violent man. It could have been argued that he isn’t even completely at fault for his state because of the circumstances. I believe that statement to be entirely false. The fact of the matter is that he refused to get back on his medication he weaned himself off of it, stopped going to therapy, and stopped being the husband and father he once was. People can change: sometimes change occurs for the worse.

The 9 millimetre he kept in his car had been placed neatly on the kitchen counter. With the girls locked in the closet he unloaded his six round magazine through the door. When their screams for help, and crying stopped he assumed they had died. He didn't bother to check, if he had this story may have gone differently. The lock on the door had been severely damaged by his gunfire.

He poured petrol on himself and around his living room and kitchen. Adrian sobbed openly in the bedroom. What was left of Gabriel hoped he could do the world one justice by wiping himself and his children off the face of the planet. Entirely terrified that if he was this broken then his children must be as well. So he ended it. He lit a Zippo, the house and himself went up in flames.

Ash had been shot four times; once in her chest, one in her hip, one in her shoulder, and one in her left thigh. Her slim frame made it easy for the bullets to pass through her safely. But Beatrice had suffered a gunshot to the left side of her Temple, one in her stomach.

Ash didn’t check for a pulse she just painfully dragged herself to the closet door and pressed her body against it as hard as she could. The lock groaned and snapped as the door swung wide. She fell through into a house being quickly engulfed by flames. Her father lay in a ball of char-coaled flesh in the center of the living room. She dragged herself on one leg through the house to free her mother from her room. The flames in the house singed her pajama pants and licked her skin as she walked. Smoke billowing and collecting on the ceiling. The house creaked as it grew more and more unstable. 

When she got to her mother's door she felt the blood loss kick in. She fell into the side of the chair bruising her right side. The fall luckily managed to knock the chair out of place:freeing Adrian. Adrian was sobbing and grieving. Her mental state was shattered, she was unable to mentally process her daughter grabbing and pulling at her hand trying to get her out of the burning house. Ash was unable to move her mother, she simply wasn’t strong enough. After a few seconds of trying to yell at her mother to help her and to run with no response Ash threw her mother’s lifeless hand down and limped to save Beatrice.

Adrian had given up completely on life. She heard the gunfire. She knew they were dead, she felt the flames, she heard her husband's pained cries. Her family was dead. She wanted to die with them. Holding a strong will to die without the flames, without the smoke, she died of heartbreak.

Ash was not able to understand this for many years to come; she resented her mother for abandoning her in that house and ‘going down with the ship’. Beatrice, however, died in the closet; but Ash was suffering from shock and didn't have the ability to comprehend this critical fact. She began a futile attempt to save Beatrice by dragging the empty body out of the burning house.

The authorities were already nearby investigating Gabriel’s crash. So they were nearby when the smoke began. Ash was located when a fireman by the name of Alfred Tims heard banging on the; flaming; front door: her dead sister in tow. The fresh air made her cough and sputter harder than she had ever coughed before. Light headed from the lack of oxygen and the loss of blood; she passed out on the front lawn. After a few days in intensive care she woke up.

Awoken to bright lights and frantic nurses in the nearby hallway. All of the opportunities for her health to deteriorate had passed. The chance she would wake was high barring any unforeseen circumstances. Doctors were more worried about her mental state after such an event. 

She felt stitches where she had once been punctured by bullets. Her body had also sustained a multitude of bruises and was sore in many places. When a nurse noticed her sitting upright and bewildered the gentleman entered the room. The Nurse’s name tag read Johnathan, he had soft facial features and had a tattoo behind his ear of the Aries astrological sign. He pulled up a chair and quietly checked her blood work and her oxygen and then quietly checked her stitches. Ash didn’t fight the inspection of her wounds. She was mostly glad he was being quiet. She didn’t know what to say, or how to feel. Most of all she didn’t know how to talk about what had happened to her. She didn’t know where to begin. He sat quietly on a stool and wrote on a clipboard. Her thoughts swarmed and spilled over. She pressed her hands to her face and began bawling openly and loudly. Tears swelled faster and heavier than a monsoon. This was the end of the world for her: everything was over. Johnathan gave her a soft pat on the back of reassurance. Leaving his hand on her back he tried to comfort her as softly as he could.   
He even gave her a tissue box to wipe her hands and face.

A few hours passed and Johnathan didn’t leave the room unless she asked for something, the two main requests were for food and water. He brought her food from the cafeteria and bottled water. Bought from his own card. Ash didn’t really think about the Nurse very often but his kindness toward her that day was overwhelming. Had it not been for him, she didn’t know where she would be. 

The police came and questioned her that evening, she explained what little she understood, about her dad’s illness and the night in question. She cried twice during the questioning. At the end she asked how her sister was doing. Their answer broke her already fragile heart.

She was forced to undergo a psychological exam to determine her mental health. Police managed to find important family documents in the charred remains of the house hidden within a fireproof safe: medical records for Gabriel, and insurance records for the Ash. It would take 3 months for the insurance company to pay off her medical bills and waive her deductible.

She refused to go into a foster care program and stayed with a friend whose mother had previously rejected the opportunity to watch the children for Adrian. The guilt weighed heavy in that house for a year and a half while Ash lived with them. After the trial, closing the case on the whole incident, Ash was given a court mandated trauma therapist. She didn’t talk for a while. Over time she opened up more about what had happened. But it didn’t stop her life from falling apart. She would sneak out and go drinking with school friends she smoked and began her piercing collection with the navel ring. The flame of the girl who had gone to bed that fateful night in July left that house as a burned effigy. Not even a memento of the person she once was remained. As a survivor of something awful, it doesn’t mean that the person you once were actually survived it. Most of the time we leave hardened or broken. People told her all the time how lucky she was to survive. She always told them that no one left that house a survivor.

*******************

Kenny woke up at 3 AM. 

"Good Morning sleepy-head." Ash Teased. 

Kenny yawned and stretched as wide as she could. "Where are we?"

"Still a few hours away. Wanna pull off and get a motel?" Ash was noticeably tired. Kenny didn't want to wear her out. "I think I just need a few hours of sleep." Ash concluded.

"I think I'm well enough to drive. We can switch places if there isn't a rest stop nearby."

"Okay, if you think you can." 

They prepared to pull off to the side of the road to let Ash take a nap. They arranged their personal effects comfortably around to lay the back seat down: making a comfortable bed for Ash. Once settled nervousness and anxiety about this whole trip set in. She felt confused and lonely. Broken up by Kenny's behavior; by the context that put her in this car; as if looking at Kenny from a hundred miles away. 

"Hey Kenny." She spoke up just before Kenny closed the hatchback. She lifted the hatchback up again to look at Ash.

"What's up?"

"Would you mind just cuddling with me for a while. I just feel really overwhelmed. I don't know, I guess I just want to hold my... girlfriend."

Kenny smiled and crawled up next to her. "That was easier than I thought it would be." Ash's relief worn plainly on her sleeves. "The label didn't throw you off?"

Kenny laughed "When I was present Kenny and I was in the future you were already calling me your girlfriend. When I got back it was the same, so I guess this is the point we officially start."

"About that… how does that work: the time travel? Does that just happen?"

"No. Not anymore. I made this happen but it only was possible because she was being attacked by a Chrono Elemental."

Ash was pretty quiet, it seemed like every time she asked a question she just got even more questions: more confusion.

"I… don't understand Kenny."

She cuddled closer to Ash. After a brief silence and a deep breath Kenny relayed the events that created her. "My freshman year of college I fell in love with a guy named Caleb. He was kind and cute and super mysterious. There was just so much going on,Calebl was quiet but determined and was always writing in some stupid journal…”

Kenny took a few deep breaths trying to recount the not so simple sequence of events. “I made a bunch of friends. Like an artist, and a gamer… they were all super fun to be around. It wasn’t always perfect but… over time suddenly I started… jumping. I'd wake up in later versions of my life… days or times I hadn't been to. I thought I was going crazy. Caleb explained to me that he was a ‘Chrono Elemental’ the only one of his kind. That he was imperceptible to other people and I was the only one who could see him. That I was special and I had a link to the Ley Lines. Something even he couldn’t understand, he promised me we were going to fix the timeline… he never explained what we were fixing the timeline from.” 

Kenny tried suppressing the feelings that were pooling over. Emotions she locked away to 'function'. Overwhelmed; she felt tears fall lightly. Ash collected a bit of her sleeve and wiped the tears from Kenny's face. Embarrassed; Kenny laughed then continued.

“I didn’t know how to control the jumps in time. I watched all of my friends die one at a time. Of the ones who didn't die I watched our friendships dwindle and vanish along with our friend; I saw horrible things, nothing I tried helped. Kit killed herself in front of me because she felt alone and neglected. She blamed me for never being there for her when she was depressed. Neither of us knew that I'd not been to those days yet. I didn't know why I was ruining everything. I tried so hard to save them: all of them. On the last day of college Caleb told me the truth. He was making me jump, and controlling where I'd go. He would send me to specific times in a specific order to manipulate my life. Then he told me that these deaths weren't supposed to happen and that there was a glitch. We could save them, but he insisted that ‘you can’t save everyone’. Caleb insisted he was the glitch, and he knew a timeline where I had died as a child. In the timeline where I died none of my friends would die: and he wouldn’t have become a Chrono Elemental. He made me choose… save my friends and release him from his eternal prison… or continue living. He made me choose my life or the lives of everyone else... What was I supposed to do?

"I also found his notebooks. He had looped the timeline over and over and over again draining the Ley Line. He wrote down every minute of every day in every loop. Until he ran out of attempts to convince me. I’m the result of his final loop. I chose to live. He could’t loop again because if he had then major populations in Arizona would collapse.”

“Jesus Christ. Was he who attacked you today?”

“Yeah, trying to tell me that I made a mistake I imagine. Trying to prove the point that I shouldn’t be in this timeline. It’s what allowed me to swap with Present Kenny and now we are here.”

“I understand what you are going through. I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too, I didn’t think anymore time bullshit would happen… so I kinda tried to pretend it didn’t happen. I just wanted to move on… but I guess it’s just part of my life to deal with timeline issues.”

“You know you don’t have to, right? The stuff going on right now with the terrorists isn’t your fault.” Ash stroked a hand through Kenny’s short hair.

“We don’t know that… but it doesn’t matter, I made my choice. He used me, and I didn't want to give a person like him what he wanted. He lives in the Ley Lines watching all that ever was or all that will be. He experiences infinity eternally and he hates it. So he can stay there for what he has done. An empty prison of eternity where the only person who can see him hates him.”

“If he lives in the Ley Lines what will happen when we get to Zion National Park?” 

“I don’t know, but Present Kenny makes it back to this time. So whatever happens at least it keeps the cycle going. I’ll be okay in this part of the timeline, who knows what will happen when I get back. I’m surprised that you don’t think I’m crazy or something.” 

“I watched terrorists age a man 150 years live on camera. I’m pretty open minded right now.” Ash sat up. “We should chill for a bit, I think we need a break. Did we pack any pot?”

“I think there’s some in my laptop case.” 

They smoked out the back of the 4RUNNER and laughed together until the early hours of the morning. At 6 AM they finally decided to go to bed. They fell asleep at 7:30.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> during the scene where The narrator gives an example of the voices in Gabriel's head, i'd initially written each example in a different font to show that the voices have different tones. unfortunately AO3 is limited and doesn't work with additional fonts... Which is going to suck later to be honest. I'll get to that soon.


	4. Chapter 3: A Promised Land Filled With Milk, Honey, and Chronomatic Energy.

Kenny and Ash woke up at 2 pm July 29, 2023. They changed clothes in the back seat of the car and moved up to the driver and passenger seats. Kenny drove for the next few hours with little to no interruption.

At 9 pm they reached Zion National Park. It was dark out and they didn't have a plan per say; more of a vague understanding of where they needed to go. They purchased a room at a Motel 6 on the outskirts of the park. The front desk agent was some teenager being distracted by his TikTok account. Once they had their room key. They parked the car closer to their room, grabbed their main suitcases and made their way up the elevator.

Ash threw her stuff on the bed and Kenny threw herself on the bed.

"Uuuuuuug" Kenny moaned exhaustedly into the comforter. "Why are road trips so difficult?"

"You wanna shower first or am I gonna go?" Ash inquired, ignoring Kenny's whining.

"You go ahead I'm gonna see if there is anything on TV."

There wasn't. She settled on a rerun of Kitchen Nightmares.

She let out another exhausted sigh and threw herself under the blanket. She scrolled through facebook and found very little peaking her interest. Just about everything beyond this she already knew about. For her it was harder to be in the past. There are less surprises. She already knew everything from August 1 2023 to her present and had guaranteed success to get the other Kenny back to her body. She couldn't help but feel bored. 

She dialed her mother's number on her phone and stared at the screen she still hadn't called her mom yet. In her heart she just wanted some peace of mind. 

She clicked the call. The dialing tone piercing her ears. A click sounded.

"Kenny? Is that you? Are you okay? Where are you?" Val sounded worried and panicked.

"Hi mom. Sorry I didn't call sooner." Kenny rubbed her eyes awake and sat up in bed.

"I hope so… we were worried about you!"

"Sorry I just didn't want you to try to stop me from going to Michigan."

"I know darling." Val sighed a sigh of relief. "We are glad you are safe. Where are you at?"

"Zion National Park. We are going to hike up Angels Landing."

"I don't know that much about hiking trails hun."

"It’s 2.4 miles one way. It is a sheer cliff hike where you hold a chain and walk alongside the cliff of a mountain."

"Jesus. That sounds absolutely terrifying."

"The whole resort is kind of funny. It was this religious promised land. Angels Landing has a myth that husbands threw their wives off the side of the trail. Supposedly that's how the trail got its name but that sounds far fetched"

"Kenny, just be careful, it wasn't very long ago you were sick. So if you start to not feel well promise me you will turn around!"

"I promise mom."

"I guess that's all I really needed to know."

"I'll stay safe, how is dad?"

"Worried sick. He is baking his sixth tray of peanut butter cookies."

Kenny pictured the scene making her erupt into sudden laughter. "He will be alright then! I'll call again soon once everything is… settled."

"I understand moving can be stressful. Don't worry about us, we will be fine. You and Ash will have a great adventure living together." Val was feeling sentimental like she was letting go of Kenny for a second time. The feeling was downplayed but she was worried. The first time she let go of Kenny she came back visibly broken. Now she was running off to another state to "figure things out".

Ash turned off the shower in the bathroom.

"Hey Mom I gotta go in a moment."

"Okay. That's fine. Stay safe."

"I'll try. I love you mom, tell Dad I say hi."

"Hey um… Kenny I wanted to tell you one other thing really quick."

"Sure mom but make it fast."

Val froze. 

"Yeah?" Kenny called attention to her mother's silence.

"Well. I know it will probably sound a bit late but you might need to know."

"Come on mom. Whatever it is I think it will be fine."

The remainder of this call became overly personal so I'm going to move on for now.

************

That same evening, at the Gemini, Bielebog was having an unusually productive day at work. He even had to convince himself to drink lightly at the bar to make sure nothing else happened. Today had been difficult right out of the gate a customer pulled a gun on one of the other patrons. He was prepared for a rowdy night which pissed him off. So he spent a good strong portion of his night sipping expensive vodka being drip fed to him by the bartender who insisted he keep a watchful eye.

The bartender was his "identical" twin brother Czernobog. The Gemini in fact was run by two brothers but none of the patrons were aware of this fact, most people just figured the name was for sex apeal. Czernobog was only known to most of those who worked in the establishment.

A few newbies hadn't even seen Czernobog. None had made the connection to the bartender. This is because the bartender was female and Czernobog was male with significantly different builds.

"Hey Czer…" Bielebog started.

"Dia." He corrected.

"I hate calling you Dia." He retorted. "Dia is OUR name. Not a you thing. It's been an 'US' thing for a lot longer than it's been a you thing."

"I make more tips with big breasts than I do a suit and tie. You know this Brother." He grabbed his breasts and pushed up on them to prove a point.

"I don't care about that. You could have just picked a different alias."

Czerobog shrugged at him. "I'm not the creative twin. I'm the smart twin."

"Whatever… 'Dia'" he said sarcastically. "It's not like you ever wanna be Dia anyway."

They seductively rubbed their fingers around the rim of Bielebog's drink and winked at a staring customer. "We can be Dia again soon but right now we have too many irons in too many fires to just drop everything."

"I know… I know… It's just kinda lonely. I miss the old days sometimes." Bielebog took a sip of his vodka

"These days are better for us you know this. Plus you've always wanted to be a gangster." Czernobogs eyes gazing at the back room where Bielebog usually hangs out.

"I just didn't think it'd be this easy to become a big name coke thug. I thought it'd be harder."

"It's probably harder for humans."

"God do you ever fuckin' wonder what it'd be like to be human?"

"Not exactly, but I think you are probably farther from human than most of us."

Biel sipped more vodka, his head swimming with thoughts.

"Fucking hell why am I out front today?" Bielebog spun around in his stool to look at the dancers.

"I need you out front because since the attack a few days ago our clientele have gotten more aggressive." He passed a drink called 'a screwdriver' to a man three seats down.

"Fuck the clientele."

"If you’d like Bielebog, but i’d prefer that you keep it in your pants for now.”

Bielebog snickered, “Walked into that one huh!”

Czernobog took a relatively generous tip from a patron and placed it in his bra which was only slightly in his shirt “We need to keep a watchful eye out. There is an air about the Ley Lines they creek and grow weary.”

“Is that boy still fucking around in the Tempe Line?”

“No he moved on.”

“You wouldn't happen to know where he went?”

“No clue, that would be a question for...”

“Don’t say their name I know.”

“They aren’t Voldemort, I can say their name.”

“They would like that wouldn’t they.”

Bielebog looked up at me from the dancers and he scowled at me.  
“Don’t you have something better to do?” Bielebog spitting the words out as if to avoid the taste of them.

*************************

Ash came out of the shower to find Kenny curled up in a ball, dead center of the bed, and under the comforter. Ash threw on a long t-shirt and joined Kenny under the covers.

"Hey you!" She wrapped her arms around Kenny and curved her torso to match the curve of her girlfriend.

"Hey. This jump to the past is definitely a mess." Kenny grabbed Ash's hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Did something happen while I was in the shower?"

"I called my mom. She confirmed a suspicion I've had for a few days."

"Anything important?"

"Nothing I'm allowed to spoil, you'll find out in a few days."

"Oh. Okay." Ash moved to brush her hair behind her ear.

"By the way, Caleb is probably going to show up tomorrow. He has an unwavering obsession with me." Kenny pressed her back hard into Ash emotions surged through her brain.

Ash felt Kenny's frustrated emotions "What a prick!" She shouted.

"What a prick!" Kenny hollard back. She uncurled herself and rolled over placing her head against Ash's collar bone. "I'm worried that something bad is going to happen."

"No point in worrying about something we have no control over." Ash pat Kenny's head. "We need to just focus on how to avoid Caleb. If that is at all possible."

Kenny hadn't given it much thought but indeed there was a substantial problem with them attempting to go around Caleb. There was only one path to their destination and only Kenny would be affected by his presence. He could do anything. He could trap her in another loop and she had no way of stopping him. Ultimately she believed that if she just told him to go away he might actually just go away. He knew she didn't want to see him. And that is mostly why he stayed away. However he was always… around. He would look in her room while she slept he watched her while she drank and smoked. He stood behind her when she walked through Tempe Marketplace. He watched her fuck. He watched her cry. He watched her shower. And watched her listen to music. Not all at once. Sometimes multiple times over and over and over. Never maliciously. But eerily, creepily. He didn't hate her. In fact he was madly in love with her. After nearly countless loops with her, she being the only person who has seen him in millions of eternities. He grew attached to her affection, her gaze. He just wanted her to look at him. See him with all of her existence through the entirety of her timeline. She made him feel alive. He wanted to go back to the time when she loved him back. He wishes he hadn't pushed her away. Though it's hard for him to understand why she was angry with him. He didn't understand why his actions hurt her so badly. Or how it affected how she looked at him. She used to look with such soft wistful eyes that glittered when the two would hold hands. Now she looks at Ash with those eyes. The eyes she reserves for him are hot and aggressive; filled with blame, rage, and hate. The hate in her eyes for him was unbearable. It was why he would choose to stay away.

"Avoiding Caleb probably won't happen, if he wants me to see him he will make it happen. It doesn't even matter where I am. I could be sucked into a black hole and he would still be able to appear in front of me."

"This guy is your 'Gideon'."

"I wish… if that were the case I'd let you kill him any day. But short of burning the Yggdrasil to the ground or killing me in the past there is no way to get rid of him." Kenny rolled over unable to get comfortable, she danced around future facts telling lies that were, metaphorically, tied to her shoulders. She pushed her back into Ash's chest once more.

"Fucking Chrono Elemental…" she pat Kenny's head again and followed the gesture with wrapping her free arm around Kenny.

"I'll think of a plan for tomorrow. I just want to get some sleep for now." Kenny sat up pushing the blanket off of them; a breeze of cold air touched their skin. The two girls moved to the top of the bed by the pillows and fell asleep.

The next morning at 6 AM July 30 2023. Ash awoke to Kenny opening the motel room door. With two plates of motel continental breakfast. These plates consist of: a lot of powdered eggs and hot sauce, two boxes of single serve cereal, 2 pancakes, 5 bacon slices, and 2 glasses of orange juice from concentrate.

"Yeah?" Ash raised an eyebrow at Kenny but didn't move to lift herself from the bed.

Kenny stood in the center of the room with a big bright smile holding the food. "Yeah!" She beamed.

After breakfast they packed up their clothes and cleaned up the room a bit. They left the motel by 8 AM. 

They reached the Grotto parking lot and made their way up the trail to Angels Landing. The overall hike wasn't bad, they had water and snacks to keep their energy up. It was drawing to the cold end of summer and there was almost no one on the trail today which was in the girls favor. The trail was thin and winding up to Angels Landing and once they reached the actual trail itself they felt the tension in the air: it was palpable.

They grabbed the chain and walked alongside the trail. The view was something out of a nature magazine the trees and shrubs grew bright green. They saw birds flying and lizards dashing between rocks. If Kenny and Ash were here under better circumstances they probably would have had an amazing trip. As the trail grew shorter and shorter still Kenny began to wonder why she had yet to see Caleb. She could feel him getting closer and closer as they walked. She theorised he wanted her to be prepared to see him. The reality however was more about space. The trail was thin and dangerous and he didn't want to accidentally hurt Kenny. Ash he didn't care for, but he didn't want Kenny to fall. The other aspect to be considered was his intent. With nearly no contact to Kenny in the last year the last thing he wanted was to suddenly and abruptly send Kenny running from him.

They approached the end of the trail; a big round rock with a flat top, where people could rest, hung toward the edge of a cliff. Together the two sat down and admired the view over the moving cars on the road and the bright sky and surrounding mountains. They could only admire the view so long before the inevitable occurred behind them. Caleb appeared quietly and placed himself in front of the trail they had just come from. The trail was two way meaning that you walk the trail forward and backward on the same path. He stood in front of the trail indicating he didn't want them to leave.

"Hello Kenny." His blonde scraggly hair blew lightly in the wind

Kenny let out a deep sigh "He is here." She stood up putting a hand on Ash to help lift herself off the ground. She turned to face him. He looked the same as he did four years ago. "I really hoped that you wouldn't show up."

Ash stood and turned around but saw no one at all. "I don't see anyone?"

Kenny nodded at Ash "I know, he lives in the Ley Line, you aren't able to perceive him; in the same way you can't see the Ley Lines connecting the world." Kenny looked at him solemnly. "How can I help you Caleb."

"Honestly?" He started. "I don't know. You already know what happened."

"I do." She answered her head hung low. "I honestly just wish that you know what you did wrong."

"I know you see me as evil…"

"I don't know what you are… I know you are lonely. But that isn't an excuse for 2019."

"I know. I know…" Caleb sat down and leaned his back to the wall. He pulled out his journal. A large red binder with scraps of paper. Notes on every past present and future he has ever witnessed. It had the words "Volume 8" on the side. It was thick and had 856 pages for the moment. "I'm sorry."

"I know you are. And with more time… I think I can forgive you." Kenny took a deep breath.

"What should I do with my journals?"

"I don't know. I don't want them. I'd rather not know how often you watch me shower." She folded her arms. Ash made a face that indicated her surprise.

"Fair point. I guess I'm just disappointed; I thought my documentation, my knowledge, would get me somewhere. I thought if I wrote it all down I'd be able to learn how to break out of this shell of an existence." Caleb leaned back and stared at the sky.

"It didn't need to be a shell. You could have lived with a purpose. Why did you focus on me so hard? Why didn't you look for other options?"

"At first you were just a girl. Someone who got to live a life I was supposed to live. But now here I am again trying to beg for help. Without you I'll die for good. I can't prevent it."

"I hope you don't take this the wrong way… but I'm kinda sick of being the reason for everyone around me dying."

"Yeah… I get that. I can't do anything about it but I understand." The two sat quietly for a moment reflecting their lives up to this point.

"Can I ask you about 1 2 4 8 5?"

"Sure…" His face hardened and cold. He became emotionally distant and somber.

"Did you know?"

"Yeah. I know, I wish there was another option but… as long as you are alive there is hope for us. As much as I hate it this is the only way I see you making it past 12485. The only way to close the loop so to speak…" he picked up a stone and threw it hard over the edge.

"When did you find out?" Kenny sat down in front of him.

Caleb's face twisted and his eyes grew damp and soft. "Not too long ago… for me it was earlier today, I found out and came here. But in your time I guess I found out tomorrow. I tried to warn you." He started crying softly. "You wouldn't listen. I had to improvise. I need to save you." He put his hands over his face and began to bawl openly "I'm scared Kenny! I'm so scared. I'm paralized… I don't know if I can do this. I don't know if I can do what I need to do."

"You know as well as I do that I'm proof you succeeded."

"I could stop… I could change the future… I could doom us all…" he wiped his eyes but it didn't stop the tears from falling slowly.

"You could, I wouldn't be able to stop you. Frankly… I don't know if I'd blame you… the world is ending. We have a job to do, I guess."

"I'm not sure any of this even matters. Especially if we can't win the war."

"I'm gonna find a way to stop Mercury."

"Good… he needs to be put down!" He sighed and stood up. "I think it's time."

"I agree." Kenny stood too.

"You better save the world Ramasama." He said candidly.

"I… I'll do my best." she looked at Ash briefly.

Caleb froze and looked up at Kenny "I don't want to go." He said quietly another few silent tears streamed from his eyes. "I'll do my best too." And then he vanished with an empty smile on his face. 

His journal left on the ground where he had sat. The wind opened the cover and the loose and tattered pages of the journal began to flutter and lift. When suddenly a gust hit them and the journal pages tore from the binder and scattered around Kenny in all directions. The pages flew down the sides of the mountain and the binder was left behind mostly empty now. Kenny wiped a tear from her eye before it fell and gathered her confidence to continue on.

"Are you okay? What did he say?" Ash put a hand on Kenny's shoulder.

"Ash I want to thank you for trusting me. I know I've given you basically no reason to trust that I'm not crazy. It's time for me to nut up or shut up."

Kenny wrapped her arms around Ash and took a half step back indicating she was going over the ledge. "Sorry Ash this will be a bit scary."

And then they fell. Ash buried her face in Kenny's shirt squeezing with all her might to hang on to her. Kenny looked at the ground that was rapidly approaching and outstretched one hand. Her finger cut open the Ley Line and a rift burst open absorbing Kenny and Ash in one bite sealing the rift immediately. The feeling of falling settled and instead they felt a sensation of water flowing and pushing them forward. 

The inside of the current was a deep purple with bright neon colors streaming past them individually yet all at once. They saw hundreds of branching routes as they flew by in the flow of energy. Each branch lead to another route of branches and roots spreading and moving of its own will. Ash saw these "roots" and suddenly began to understand the complexity of the world around her. She felt the chronomatic particles brushing past all of the hair follicles on her head and through her fingers and toes. She felt them in her heart and spirit, and she felt an overwhelming burst of excitement and adrenaline. She wanted to explore these roots from the inside out. Ash knew in this moment that Kenny was telling the truth about everything.

"What did he want?" Ash asked, she was bouncing off of the ethereal walls of the current. She seemed to enjoy flowing through a river of pure chronomatic energy.

"He wanted to say goodbye."

"Goodbye? Last we will need to deal with him at least. Right?"

"I won't. But you two will still need to deal with him a bit." Kenny forked a hard left and signalled Ash to follow suit.

"Im sorry but I'm gonna have to go soon." Kenny continued.

"What?" Ash stopped bouncing on the walls and swam over to Kenny.

"We got to the chronomatic current. So I have to go back to my time. Present Kenny will be back in her body as soon as we exit the current." Kenny smiled a bit. "I'll see you in the future okay? Be sure you say 'Hi' to me when I get there: promise?"

Ash gave Kenny a big hug. "I promise." Kenny closed her eyes and kissed Ash gently, a light enveloped both of their visions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Caleb and Kenny confront one another, and their conversation is not terribly enlightening. I recommend coming back to this chapter and re-reading that conversation once present Kenny goes into the past to live through this moment for herself.  
> This is a moment that really tries to cement that Ash in a sense is closer to the protagonist than Kenny. Ash like you the reader, doesn't quite understand the context either.  
> 


	5. Chapter 4: The Brightness of Celestial Stars When Compared to the Brightness of the Vegas Lights.

Bielebog prepped his interruptions for the evening; waiting for the Vegas lights to brighten the sky. Gemini was an interesting building, the light that draped its outer walls were spectacularly bright. When the Vegas lights lit for the evening so would the lights on Gemini. People liked to speculate which was brighter; the collaborative effort of lights on the Vegas Strip or the lights on Gemini. Neither party deemed the question worthy of an answer. Bielebog didn't care about such a silly and petty argument. In his eyes Gemini would always be brighter than 100 Vegas Strips combined. Czernobog however didn't want to blind patrons as they entered the building so he ensured the lights were only as bright as legal limits allowed.

Czernobog scribbled in his accounting notebook regarding the figures for yesterday and the perceived figures of the evening. 

"Biel did you intend to be out front today? Or were you going to stick in back today?" Czernobog rummaged through his trench coat pockets and removed several notebooks, pencils, and his cell phone. Placing them all in a neat pile on his desk.

"I'm going to play it by ear. I'm waiting for a response regarding a bulk buy from a dealer in Milwaukee." Bielebog shifted the placement of one pencil that was placed in his brother's work space. Czernobog without addressing it rearranged the pencil. 

"Understood, I will likely be bartending again as Cindy is off today."

"Okay well at the very least I'll come visit you at the bar."

"Would you like me to call you some girls to keep you company?" Czernobog placed a hand on Bielebog's shoulder and straightened his vest.

"Sure. I've been fucking board recently." Bielebog ran a comb through his pink hair. 

This was when they heard a faint breeze of wind. Czernobog and Bielebog recognized the sound immediately and Bielebog pulled a gun from the back of his pants pre-cocked for ease of death. Broo bring me 'Celeste' please."

Czernobog drew a circle of light in the air and a black void burst open into the room. He placed his hand in the hole and withdrew a sword-like object still contained within its sheath. Bielebog took it and strapped it to one of the chain link straps on his pants.

Celeste was little more than an enchanted pipe welded to a sword hilt. Bielebog adored having a named weapon and a pipe suited his tastes. He cleaned it regularly to remove blood and water to keep it from rusting. The enchantment imbued was for durability. Back in the early 1800's he asked Czernobog to enchant it so it wouldn't bend or break when he wanted to concave someone's head. Czernobog wasn't against violence however he would not partake in it himself. This worked for them because Bielebog takes great pleasure in any amount of violence.

Having been fully outfitted to defend Gemini from a seemingly oncoming threat, a rift opened in front of them. A bright purple warbling rift with a colorless outline. The purple swirled momentarily before vanishing in its entirety leaving in the spot the rift once stood, two girls, gently kissing and held in each other's embrace.

Ash broke away from Kenny; whose eyes were open but lifeless and dull. Kenny's knees gave out: collapsing into her girlfriend's arms. Ash had yet to take notice of the new environment making Bielebog a bit flustered by her lack of interest in him: or his gun. Ash looked up right as she gained her balance and saw the thug alongside his long haired twin in a trench coat.

"Do you guys have somewhere she can rest for a moment?" Ash politely asked, trying to worry less about the gun which was still in position to fire against her.

"We have a couch just over here." Czernobog gestured with his hand to the leather couch in front of the coffee table which was currently holding a 'mountain' of Bielebogs special 'cherry vanilla' cocaine.

"Can you help me carry her? She is limp right now so she feels heavier than she looks." Ash lifted Kenny up by her arms and struggled to get her into a liftable position.

"Put her down. We'll move her. We don't want to injure her further." Czernobog walked towards the girls as Ash gently placed Kenny on the floor. He gestured to the unconscious girl, and as he did he looked into her grey hollow eyes. 'She has no soul?' He thought to himself.

Bielebog holstered his gun coldly and slowly. Once closer to Kenny he slid his arms underneath her and lifted. Ash had followed Czernobog to keep an eye on them while they moved her girlfriend. She noticed the pile of 'snow' on the coffee table and made a conscious choice to ignore it. Having appeared suddenly in a back room with drug dealers her first priority was Kenny: her second was survival. A wise instinct that was ultimately unnecessary. It was immediately clear to the thugs that the girls who appeared from the Ley Line were no threat to them, or to the Gemini.

After setting Kenny down on the main couch he sighed deeply. He moved to an empty chair and sat across from the couch. Celeste was removed and placed upright leaning against his arm rest. "So… you're just casually touring the Yggdrasil? I'd heard the Ley Lines were good this time of year." He moved his arms dramatically to help prove the ludicrousness of his statement.

Ash didn't miss a beat, they knew about the Ley Lines and probably even more. "No. It's not as simple as that." She looked at Bielebog for, really, the first time. He was noticeably agitated. Ash pointed at Kenny "She got attacked by a Chrono Elemental. And her future self and her present self swapped places."

"So you needed the Ley Line to fill her with enough Chronomatic Energy to swap them back. Which meant riding the Ley Line." Czernobog interjected. He was inspecting Kenny for injuries, his search was not terribly thorough but after hearing Ash's testimony on the matter he quickly understood the futility of his search.

"It sounds like you understand the gist." Ash closed Kenny's eyes. The emptiness made her uncomfortable.

"What is your name?" Bielebog began patting himself down for his hunting knife like one would look for a lighter or a pen.

"I… don't know if I should say. I'm kinda out of my fucking depth right now." Ash ran the stress through her hair with her fingertips and closed her eyes.

"Biel I believe this experience has overwhelmed the girl. It'd be best if we wait to question them when the unconscious one wakes. She probably knows more anyway."

"Whatever… have you seen my hunting knife?" Bielebog stood up and scanned the room.

"I believe you left it on stage three. I'd prefer, however, if you'd hold off on anything inappropriate until all four of us have a mutual understanding."

Bielebog groaned and threw himself back into his chair.

Czernobog pulled up his accounting chair and offered the final leather loveseat to Ash who sat down calmly and politely.

"So who are you guys?" Ash scanned the twins

"I'm Bielebog, biggest coke distributor in the state." He grew a proud smile after introducing himself.

"I'm Czernobog, his brother and accountant. We own this establishment together."

Ash looked around the room and aside from the mountain of coke the room was so clean and pristine it was hard for her to gather an understanding of what kind of establishment she was in. "What is this, some kind of gang headquarters?" 

"Headquarters? That isn't really the right word. Front would be better. This is a strip joint called Gemini." Bielebog fiddled with his earring lightly.

"Why are you telling me all this shit aren't you worried I might turn you into the cops or something?" Ash just looked at Kenny.

"It would be unwise of you considering the hospitality you've been shown. We are not concerned though. Law enforcement is already on the payroll." Czernobog pulled out a pen and began taking notes about Ash and what she had told them so far; as well as his own observations about Kenny.

"You two are the weirdest gangsters I've ever seen."

"I'm sure we are. However it would appear you are now in our debt for assisting you." Czernobog gazed up at her testing her reaction.

"It's not like we chose to come here." Ash retorted.

"Actually, she did." Bielebog pointed to Kenny.

Ash was more on edge than when she had initially seen Bielebogs gun. Unsure of how or why they ended up here she began looking for an escape plan. Most, if not all, of her plans would only have, possibly, worked if she didn't have an unconscious Kenny to worry about. The more she thought about it if Kenny wasn't here then her chance to flee wouldn't have increased by much. Their focus would have been all on her and a wrong move would get her shot.

Czernobog stood "Come Bielebog. Let us leave her to recover strength. Once they are both conscious we can talk reasonably about why they came to us. In the meanwhile…" gesturing toward Ash. "I suggest you get some rest, Ley Line travel takes its toll on humans."

Ash took a deep breath when the brothers began to leave the room. "Oh yeah!" Bielebog suddenly realised "You have a car parked somewhere? Someone needs to pick up your car before it gets towed." 

Ash nodded and began digging through one of the hiking backpacks her and Kenny had taken with them. She tossed the car keys at Bielebog who caught them flawlessly.  
"Zion National Park, Utah." She said calmly and the two thugs left the room.

*******

Mercury was at the opposite end of the continent sitting at Myrtle Beach waiting for someone to respond to his most recent order. With the main city attacks having been a major success; fear was moving and motivating political organizations to prevent attacks. No one had been blamed for the attacks on the United States; tension was high and war was on the horizon. It was no surprise to him, they could slowly and methodically kill each country off one by one if he wanted. Their technology was far beyond that of the current generation. Chrono Weapons were functioning well, just as he had hoped. The production took so long that he had wondered if the equipment would fail right at the climax.

Mercury is a soldier. He has been a soldier his whole life and that's all he wanted to be. He fought hard enough in his youth that he came in contact with Azazeroth on the battlefield. Mercury would describe this experience as "the best job interview ever!". He didn't care why he was asked to kill. Mercury didn't need or even want a reason to start a fight, he just wanted approval.

"Sir!" A rookie came to address Mercury about their further plans. 

"Speak kid." Mercury's harsh voice stunned the rookie momentarily. After regaining his confidence he spoke.

"The video is live on multiple sites. It's trending. It's on the news. Word is spreading. If any country wants protection from their enemies they will have to buy from us." The kid saluted and turned to leave.

Mercury tapped his foot and smiled. "Without further ado. I present to you…" he stood. "World War Chronos."

He drew a sword with purple veins pulsing through it. "I would not kindly stop for time. So he kindly stopped for me." And he vanished in a cloud of grey smoke. 

Anyone who had been alive in the area prior to Mercury's disappearing act was very instantaneously strewn about in different piles of gore and dismemberment. Mercury himself was a ghost, he wouldn't reappear to inspect his own handiwork.

The Beach was shut down pending police investigation. The doctors who had done autopsies on the deceased were shocked to find their brains still fully functioning. However their bodies were completely imobile or dismembered. Some people's brains were split in 2 and still "functioning" to an extent. It would take weeks before anyone was able to figure out why this phenomenon occurred. 

The purple veins on Mercury's sword were an indicator that this was a time loop inducer. When cut chronomatic energy would flow into their blood and the next 10 seconds would loop in their brains permanently. The only way to reverse the effect is to remove the chronomatic particles from the brain. But doctors did not have the necessary tools or research to negate these effects: they never would.

Mercury received his first order for chrono tech from russia. Which was followed by China, then Great Britain. In between the big major buyers thugs and gangs bought a few weapons to gain territory against rival gangs. By August 10 2023 the Chrono Illuminati would have Chrono Tech in almost every corner of the world.

***********************

Kenny woke up July 30, 2023 at 11:46 pm. Ash was sitting on the floor leaned over the couch sleeping on Kenny's stomach. Neither of them moved; Kenny didn't want to wake up Ash. The music in the next room was loud and electric. People were whooping and hollering, crowds of people cheering and goading others into slamming shots with each other. She was in the back room to a club of some kind. She was unsure where; or when for that matter. She placed one hand on Ash's head and ran her fingers through her hair. "How did we end up in this mess? Why did I get you involved?" Her trip to the future had been pretty uneventful getting back was practically a piece of cake and she felt mostly equipped, mentally speaking, to deal with the incoming storm. After all she knew Mercury's plans now. Surely she could find a way to fix it.

But that's the problem with time: it's fluid. It can be re-written but at what cost? Any advantages you had with your knowledge of the current future are pointless. The moment you use it is the moment you lose it. So what if she knew Mercury wanted to sell chrono weapons at a mass scale to ignite a war. The minute she changes something, something else will change back. Maybe the future she would create would be worse somehow. She would never know; she never could keep track of how her actions affected the timeline.

She was kind of curious about what happened while she was gone: she didn't ask. She knew she'd get there eventually. Ten days time. Then the loop would be complete. Future Kenny was there now… Present Kenny wondered if she would like the results of completing the loop.

Kenny felt incomplete with only half knowledge. A pang of emptiness filled her gut. She looked at Ash in the pastel pink lighting. Her expression was soft and comforting. The piercings in her lip dug into Kenny's stomach when she took a breath. Kenny reached for her phone which was firmly stuck in the back pocket of her jeans. Upon examination of her phone she noticed several texts that didn't warrant an answer, a few emails for coupons and a trending notification on her twitter account. "Terrorists Calling Themselves the 'Chrono Illuminati' to Sell Weapons Used in Large Scale Attack." Kenny took note of the date and time then tossed her phone lightly to the ground. She was going to place it on the coffee table beside her but noticed a pile of something that looked 'a hell of a lot like cocaine' so she declined the coffee table's generous offer. 

Bielebog opened the door to the back room, he looked heavily intoxicated. Edgar was holding the punk up by his belt loop and his shoulder. Edgar sat him down in the solo recliner across from the couch. He nodded at Kenny and then quietly left the room.

"Sss..o ur.. awaake. Heh?" Bielebog slurred. His head bobbed back and forth.

"Something like that, Ash is asleep, Bielebog so please don't be too loud." Kenny ran her hands past Ash's piercings one by one. Then tilted her head toward Bielebog.

"Heh yo..ou know sh..sh she di'nt trus.. us." He pulled out his hunting knife and leaned over the coffee table. "Been wai...in for 'er to fall assshhhleeep"

"It's not her fault. She is trying so hard to be strong."

"Yeaaaah well ish kinda a pain in mah assh."

Kenny giggled at the drunken pun. "Just wait, in a few weeks I won't trust you either. It'll be her job to fix it. So you better work hard to gain her favor."

"Yeah yeah whatever I'll work on it" he hit a line off the edge of his knife and let out a big sigh. Afterwards he slammed his knife on his thigh; blade tip down.

"Perks of being a Celestial?" She asked him.

"Nah quite." His mouth felt sticky from the drinks so he attempted to walk to the fridge behind the couch. "Duncha already know 'bout me?"

She shook her head but she realised pretty quickly he wasn't looking at her. "Not really, we didn’t talk much while I was away. Too busy avoiding spoilers."

"Smart guy." Bielebog ripped the top off of a water bottle and began gulping. After finishing the bottle he gestured at Kenny by trying to hand her a bottle of water. She waved her hand in declination. Her head wasn't tilted in a position to drink water. He ripped the top off and began chugging that bottle as well. "Uuuuurrrrggg" he withheld the urge to throw up the water he had just drank. And stumbled back over to his chair. "Immortality isn't a celestial thing. It's a Bielebog thing." His voice was clear, not slurred, it was concise and to the point she almost believed it was Czernobog saying it, had she not watched his mouth form the words. Bielebog's immortality had the effect of helping him sober from any form of intoxication at will. He typically didn't care but he needs to be alert to answer Kenny's soon to be difficult questions.

"So only you are Immortal?"

"Yeah even if I fuze with Czernobog the result wouldn't be immortal because there would at least be 1% mortal which means 0% immortal."

"You Celestials are all so interesting. Completely different from one another." Kenny yawned and stretched out as best she could. "I met one of you once. She was kind of a bitch." 

"Yeah, sorry no clue who you mean most of the others are bitches."

"It doesn't matter. I just think it's funny I keep running into your kind."

"Our kind? You say that like you know us all."

"Sorry if I offended you. I just meant that Celestials keep appearing in my life, and I don't know why I'm so 'lucky'." Kenny threw air quotes around the word 'lucky'.

"Most people can meet us. To know what we are… that's different. It's not the fucking Celestials' fault that the Elemental abused you. Now that you know we exist all you care about is why: why we never stepped in to help you." Bielebog pulled the knife from his leg. "Go on ask. I'll tell you."

Embarrassed Kenny looked away from him. "Why didn't you help me?" She asked softly.

"Because we can't." He put his knife on the table shaking his, now fully healed, leg and the fabric of his pants reformed to be whole again. "Even if every single one of us knew, and only four of us did, we still couldn't have helped. We aren't fucking gods. We are stars. Stars on a 13 point scale if any of us moves the whole fucking world tips out of balance. We help you and hundreds of others could have suffered. We don't always know the consequences of our actions but we have to be human to keep the balance." 

Kenny felt guilty for asking. "I'm sorry for blaming you."

"Don't worry about it. I get how you feel. You think you got dealt an awful hand. Our hand is only as good as the rest of the hands at the table. Who cares if you have a pair of 2's when everyone else has a Queen High." 

"Do you think that others have a worse hand than 'forced to relive the tragic death of my friends on a loop for hundreds of years.'"

"I think that you have the ability to open the Ley Lines and outside of Celestials I only know one other girl who could open the Ley Lines. And she is dead now." He sat back in his chair and played with his knife tossing it up, catching it, distracting himself from his own words. "You survived, you got a choice. Some people don't: some people just die. I never give people a choice."

"You don't kill people who don't deserve it." Kenny extended her arm at Bielebog. "Pass me your knife."

He handed her the hilt of his hunting knife. "Not always true. Some people just catch me on my off days."

"I don't know, I just want to believe that supernatural beings aren't all evil." She examined the blade, it was sharp to the touch. It had initials engraved on it "B.C.D." in a cursive font at the base of the blade where the metal and hilt touch.

"We aren't all bad. You just have bad luck with your order of introduction. You should meet the Aries. Can’t keep a conversation for shit, but a damn good medical professional.”

“Medical Professional huh?” She passed the knife back to Bielebog. “Sounds like he is doing everything he can.”

“What we do may not seem like much, but it’s our goddamn job: forever. We don’t get to choose our role. It was given to us. We are each our own Star. I’m not the best one to set an example. I would have shot the two of you without question if I hadn’t seen the two of you kissing when you arrived.”

“Why did that make a difference?” She adjusted slightly to try to get Ash’s piercing out of her gut.

“It was vulnerable upon entering an unknown location. You basically fell in here waving a white fucking flag.” 

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Kenny pat Ash’s back to wake her up. After shaking off the sleep Ash jumped up in surprise.

“Kenny! You are awake!”

She nodded, “Sorry, It usually takes me some time to get back to my body. To me it feels like I just took a nap.”

“You told me that you’d be in your body as soon as we exit the Ley Line!” Ash lifted Kenny’s legs and sat on the couch. Kenny placed her legs back down onto her girlfriend’s lap. 

“Sorry it kind of feels instantaneous for me. In her defence, now I have to tell you that when we are in the current.”

“Really?”

“Yeah it’s a loop she did it, so you told me: which means when I catch up to her I’ll have to as well so that you will tell me and it goes on forever.” Kenny gestured with her hands to make a visual image of how everything works: it wasn't very detailed; Ash nodded.

“That makes sense I guess, it isn’t a big deal, I was just worried and in a weird place with…” she paused and looked at Bielebog who had begun searching the back room for snacks. “Weird people… How was the Future?”

“It’s in pretty bad shape.” Kenny turns to look at Bielebog as well but loses interest when she discovers he isn’t listening. “This is Bielebog, he is an ally. Same with his brother Czernobog.”

Ash looks at the pile of cocaine and the gun peaking out of Biel’s pants and his hunting knife which was left on his chair. “I’m not sure I really trust them. There are a lot of red flags here.”

“I’ll let them win you over, sure they are thugs but they are a bit more than what they appear.” Kenny stretched wide and then stood up. “In the meantime I need to change clothes, Bielebog?” She called over to him; he didn’t turn around, however, he let out a small grunt. “Where’s the bathroom?”

He pointed out the main door and said, “Backstage are the employee changing rooms and bathrooms.”

“Thanks.” She grabbed the backpack future her had brought with her for the hike. She checked the pockets and she did in fact have several changes of clothes in the bag. Since the girl who was here was from the future she would do things according to what her past self would need. So if present Kenny needed a change of clothes future Kenny would have known and packed accordingly. Currently Kenny was in an interesting position where she has knowledge of the future and of her being in the future, this gave her confidence in a very special way. Until her present self reached August 12 where she had come from. She would have guaranteed immunity: from death at the very least. Until her present self returns to the future via the 2 days she missed, present kenny wouldn’t die. Kenny left the room and went to change.

Ash on the other hand sat on the couch uncomfortably. A girl with an oddly familiar face, large breasts and a gold “I” for an earring came into the back and pointed at her direction. 

“Can you please come assist me at the bar?” the woman asked.

Ash hesitated and looked at the woman's clothes and frame she was scantily dressed. Probably so that she could make better tips. Ash looked at her own clothes and attire. “I’m not exactly dressed to help out in a strip club. Also I’m not the biggest fan of men.”

“I’m not asking you to show skin. I just need you to pass out drinks while I make them. We are quite busy today.” She took her leave and walked back to the bar.

Ash sat for a moment. “Czernobog probably doesn’t actually need your help. More likely that he wants to talk to you.” Bielebog dug through more drawers for chips and finally came up with a bag of off brand Cajun Dill chips. He slapped his hand into the bag to open it with a crunchy pop. Then threw himself toward the couch Ash was sitting. Ash stood before he fell effectively evading his dive. 

“That was Czernobog?” she asked brushing her clothes down for wrinkles.

“Yeah. He gets more tips when he has flashy tit’s” Biel made a groping gesture with his hands.

Ash sighed then stepped out onto the floor of the club. This being her first visit to Gemini she took note of the style and flair. The bright pink lights and the multicolored spotlights flailing about the dance floors. The multiple bars spread between different corners of the club. Most of the women were strippers in a vast variety of skimpy clothes. There were a few women dressed head to toe like butlers. Holding trays of horderves and cheap champaign walking around the floor of the club. The men were either dressed in thug gear with a gun or some variety of blunt object welded to some kind of sharp object. Alternatively they were dressed like butlers as well, acting as waiters. Their posture was tight and poised; they walked with purpose and confidence. The dancers were confident in their own manner: flashy and talented. She thought most of them were beautiful and noticed how clean and pristine they were, how clean the whole club was. This wasn’t just a gentlemen's club. It was perfect.

She looked for the familiar girl who had come to invite her to the bar. They were at the far corner bar, Ash walked past several groups of people partying and even a table of guys playing a personal game of poker betting on who would pay for the next lap dance. Upon arriving at the bar she finally noticed no people at the bar itself; all the customers were at the other two counters.

“Bielebog mentioned that you didn’t actually need bartending help.”

“I sincerely apologise for the lie. I felt that you’d be more open to talk to me with Bielebog out of the picture. He is a good brother but not good with people. He can’t empathise.”

“Why are you suddenly a woman?” Ash sat down at a stool and jumped to a talking point, ignoring Czernobog’s defense for his brother.

“Hmm, well since we appear to be alone, I think I can tell you.” Czernobogs outfit and build suddenly shifted into the man in the trench coat who had helped her with Kenny. “I am a Celestial Star, of the mark Gemini. I can shift my physical form to anything I’d like to. However I prefer to have the same face as my twin brother. Would you like something to drink?” His voice was soft and polite. His smile: light and warm. Ash felt a comfort in his presence 

Ash nodded mostly unfazed. “Can you mix me something sweet? I'm not in the mood to taste liquor.”

Czernobog began juggling and flipping liquors and mixers into a shaker. While he mixed Ash looked around at the patronage no one was even looking in their direction. 

“Why is everyone ignoring our existence?” Ash asked as she fidgeted in her chair.

“Each Star has special properties that make them unique. I alter perception. I can make people ignore things, I can make people feel things.” He poured the mixture into a wide short glass with a ball of ice.

Ash took the glass and eyed it suspiciously but took a quick drink. The favor hit her tongue. The sweet liquid coated her throat as she drank it down.

She exhaled “Jesus what was that?”

Czernobog let a heartfelt smile stretched across his face.“I'm glad you liked it! Most people find it too sweet. I very rarely get a chance to make it. It’s a special recipe, I'm afraid I can’t disclose the ingredients but I call it ‘Pinacle’s Peak’”

“I’m guessing that the show of the mixture is part of hiding the ingredients.”

Czernobog lit up and began clapping wildly. “That’s right! You are so intuitive.” his excitement for Ash’s company growing rapidly, his heart rate bursting against his chest. He felt his excitement turning away from Ash and took several deep and elongated breaths. He would inhale for four seconds, hold for four seconds, release for four seconds, and hold for four seconds, then he would repeat: Square breathing.

“You okay?” Ash asked, taking another sip of her drink.

“I, unlike my brother; who can’t empathise because of stunted emotions; experience extreme emotion in bursts. If I don't remain calm I can lose myself in emotion.” Czernobog cleaned a glass productively and set it on the edge of the counter.

“It sounds like you Celestials have issues you need to work out.” Ash finished her drink passing the glass over to Czernobog.

“It may be true that we have our flaws; however this is so that no one celestial is the most powerful. We are here to keep order and balance.” Czernobog began cleaning the glass. “Imagine a scale with 13 prongs. And in the center is a plate containing the universe. We must all stay still and watch over the existence of life on our scales. If any of us move then we could bring about the end of time. Even if it was just one of us that gets out of line.”

“If you are all so powerful then why are you guys working here, doing drugs and raising crime.” Ash played and twisted one of her snake bites.

“We are merely providing a service to those who would ask for it. It might not be a healthy service but it is one that people request. If not us. They would simply go somewhere else. We guarantee the purity of our products.” Czernobog began flipping ingredients in the air and shaking them together in a mixer.

“I just don’t see why gods would sell an unhealthy product to the masses on a national scale.”

“We are not gods, we are stars made human. Our master is the closest in the world to being a god. She rejects the title, as do we all.”

“Who is your leader?”

“The Yggdrasil!” A spark ignited in his eyes, and he passed a glass to Ash.

Ash accepted the glass and drank softly. She could feel the alcohol taking effect. “This is all just a bit much for me. I don’t think I'm ready to deal with all of this supernatural bullshit… it was one thing when it was just Kenny, but now that there's a whole world of it… I just don’t think I’m ready.”

“It is, generally, a lot for a person to truly understand the world around them. No one blames you for your distrust.” 

“I think I can trust you Czernobog but I don’t think I can trust your brother. Not yet… he is violent and agitated. I’m not sure I can be around him.”

“That is fine darling, he is an unusual case, I love him, I’d promise that he is arguably the safest between the two of us, but I don’t kill people so you do hold a valuable position. I’d suggest talking with the staff. They tend to see him in a unique light.” His empathy swelled up in his heart. Eyes flaring with tears and emotion. He wiped his eyes and took some deep breaths.

Ash finished her dr… in...k and… then s…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter, when I wrote it, ends with the text slowly shrinking, implying that the narrator is still speaking but is fading out, getting quieter and being overwritten.
> 
> but by what? by who?


	6. Post-Script 1: Kempachi Ramasama Steals the Heart of the World

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Introducing a new Narrator. When I wrote this chapter Kempachi had a unique font. (Oswald). I did this to indicate that we are definitely a new narrator and not The Sagittarius.

*boop boop* Hello? Hey! So I'm going to just hijack the narrative really quick sorry. Hello, My name is Kempachi Ramasama remember the name! I interrupt this broadcast to bring you my very own interpretation of events from many, many years ago. Now I think it is pertinent that I explain who I actually am. Well I’m a human. Plain and simple. I've spent the last 30 years outside the timeline for my personal protection which personally I thought was pretty rude. Who gets to say if I wanna be protected… apparently the ex does. Not that I can blame her. I'd have done the same for her. I'm back, mostly. Still a bit of side excitement to take care of before I make a grand entrance. Hell I should gather some fireworks for the occasion. I wonder who all remembers me? 

“Kempachi. Come on hurry up!” 

"Ah hell, Casper, can't a man monologue in peace?" I turned to face the one who had just spoken: Casper, the Capricorn. The Capricorn is a unique individual who has no physical identity. They go by the name Casper and have their zodiac sign tattooed somewhere on their body, not that I've seen it: I'll totally see it.

There are two, count them, two ways to tell a Celestial from humans. The first way is by locating the zodiac sign on their person and touching it. The sign should burn you, the sign is a sigil of their birth and it burns like the flame they are. The second is just to watch them for weird inhuman powers. However even if you have these in mind the likelihood that you would find even one let alone all 13 and recognise them as celestials are slim. This is because they are very good at hiding both their sigil and their powers. Interestingly enough there is a being more difficult to locate even still. There can only ever be one at a time; there must always be one: The Yggdrasil. The tree of life. The roots of the world. Little over 30 years ago I met the Yggdrasil. A little under 25 years ago I killed her.

It was 1992, I'd been preparing for months to climb up the top of Mt. Everest. Cliche isn't it, "oh boy another adventure climbing everest god what a cuck for a leading character! " You'd tell me that with your patronizing tongue. It's fine though because I wasn't climbing it for the mountain or to prove anything. I climbed Everest because I wanted to die. Ever see a man so determined to die that they just can't fucking manage it? I'd expected that climbing Everest would be my downfall as an adventurer. Being killed in an adventure was the greatest gift my journeys could give to me: fuck the tombs and the treasure! To die at the hands of a well laid trap or to die in extreme weather conditions when you've prepared for every possible outcome. To die in the midst of a journey that didn't want to be completed by me is my dream. Was my dream. 

I made my climb up that mountain in the blistering cold, the frolicking whispering wind plastering snow against my face. The sheer stabbing of ice into my skin: like reverse acupuncture. The unbearable storm pushed against me, halting my progress. In the distance about 2000 meters from the top I saw a cave in the cliffside bright and beckoning. I could feel its warmth from the last mile I had to cross to get to it. And once I found my way to its entrance I set up camp and began to wait out the storm.

My fire lit quickly and encouragingly. Despite the numb feeling in my limbs I began to recover stamina remarkably fast. A scent filled the cave; the overwhelming scent of maple and honey. The smell was warm and comforting and filled my lungs and my nose to an extent that I can still remember the smell and recall it at will. I felt the nauseating calm permeate my senses and I drifted off into a deep sleep. 

That night I dreamt of a forest. A forest filled with seemingly everlasting magic and eternal peace. The trees were thick like brutalist architecture; the leaves were green, the grass was bright and wildlife was vast and ever present. It was calm and quiet, not a single branch out of place. Heaven; if it could be described as such a place. The peace filled my heart and I felt relief. Was I dead? Had I achieved my goal? To die on an adventure? Had I died doing what I loved? I couldn't tell. I wandered the forest and stumbled upon a girl about my age mid 20's she wore a cute blue dress. Blue like the night, with stars shining and shimmering off of it; reflecting off the fabric as a mirror would reflect one's greatest errors upon their face. The fabric itself is unable to contain the pattern upon its threads. She didn't run. She didn't even try to hide. She stood out in the open arms outstretched. Not to me but to the forest soaking it into her bright pale skin and her solemn glowing eyes. Her breathtaking frame shone fully aware of her lack of vulnerability. She stood out in the forest like a red stain on a white shirt. She, like the animals that surrounded her, was ever present and powerful. I felt her aura pierce through me like a knife drenched in passivity. Just like that I was in love.

"Who are you?" I called out to her she didn't move nor react but I could tell she heard me. I felt a pulling sensation that drew me to walk towards her. I didn't fight my moving legs. I just let them carry me toward her. 

"My name? Why do you ask?" Her voice was small but heavy handed. It was calm and sweet but each word landed hard and instinctively made me desire to pay attention to her.

"I've just never met someone quite as brilliant as you. I almost never want to wake up." 

"You are dreaming?" She turned her head toward me puzzled.

"There is no other explanation; there are no forests on Mt. Everest."

She nodded "There isn't, you are correct but then why must this be a dream? Have you no knowledge of ways to transport to ethereal planes?" She placed one hand delicately on her hip and wrapped her other arm around herself in a form of hug. 

"Ethereal?" I pondered aloud.

"Yes. You are not on earth." Her hair was long and silver and stretched down to her heels. Several strands stretched over her shoulder. She brushed her hair back and looked up at the night sky which shone a deep purple. "I've never heard of anyone reaching this plane in their sleep before."

"I… wouldn't know… I just kinda showed up. My name is Kempachi by the way: Kempachi Ramasama." 

"My name is Æsir. Kempachi? That is a weird name for an american." She leaned in to see my face up close. She inspected me slowly, each eye twitchingly sought out my purpose as curiosity plastered her smile.

"You can tell where I'm from?"

"Only a little you appear to be an anomaly to me. You are… unique." She stepped toward me. "Would you like to see the rest of the forest?"

"I'd love to go just about anywhere with you." I responded almost instinctively. I felt vulnerable and open but safe. She extended a hand to me. Which I took hold of near instantaneously. She showed me caverns and animals. She showed me the trees and bushes. She showed me the rivers and the sky. 

"Kempachi?" She sat with me outside a massive tree the biggest in the entire forest its roots alone were the width of million year old oak trees.

"If you'd like me to come back I promise I will. I'd climb Mt. Everest a hundred times of it meant I could see you each time."

She smiled at that "I wouldn't ever require such a thing from you. I just wanted to know: did you have fun?"

I nodded "I did. I feel like I never need to explore anything ever again."

"Then do not." She smiled a heartfelt grin that overwhelmed my senses. "Don't adventure, stay at home, build a life and don't think of death anymore." 

I winced "You knew then?"

She nodded solemnly "I know, you are unique please do not go seeking death. It might make me sad. It's been a long time since I've been visited even by the stars. So if I could see you again happy and healthy then I would be filled with such a radiant joy." She held my hand and dropped an emotional tear from her eye: I wiped it away.

"I promise if you will see me again I'll clean up my act." 

And that is what I did, I woke up in the cave and I looked at the peak of the mountain. Turning my back to the adventure I climbed down the mountain. And I never looked back on it. I bought an apartment in New York, I got a job as a Bank Teller. I told jokes to customers. I sassed employees and managers… I lost that job, I lost many jobs over the course of the next year, and for that whole year. I heard nothing of the girl from my dream on that mountain. ‘Æsir’ That beautiful girl, that harmonious girl, for once I wished she would sweep me away. In her way I think she did. Life got easier for me, I managed to hold down a job at a local attorney's office as an errand boy. My bill’s got paid on time. I thought maybe she was looking down on me from her ethereal plane. Then, like a fairytale on the night of the anniversary of my night in that cave, I fell asleep to the smell of maple and honey and I awoke in her forest. 

I ran to the center where the largest tree stood. The tree that stood higher than the world itself. By that tree she met me and she told me of her time in the forest and how much she wished that I would visit again. I told her of the year that I've had, how long and hard it has been adjusting to life outside of my old rambunctious ways. I told her of how much I had longed to see her but had no knowledge of how to return. She was so kind and thoughtful to my feelings she stood by me and held my head while I told her of my tribulations. “I know how hard it must have been for you,” she told me. 

“I waited so long to hear from you.” I took a moment to feel her presence around me. She smelled of Maple and Honey, just like I remember from my first visit. She was the source of the scent in my entry to her world. She was perfect, so perfect. “Will you spend the day with me?”

Her face lit with excitement. “I’d love to Kempachi!” We spent the day traversing the massive tree that stood in the center of it all. The tree, besides obscenely large, had soft bark and smelled just like Æsir. Its leaves rippled different shades of different colors while the branches shook in the wind. The branches themselves stretched in all directions longingly and lovingly to all corners of the foreseeable world beneath us. The roots were thick and strong and brutal. Flowing and writhing with magical properties I couldn’t even begin to understand. Vines draped the branches and leaves and all down the trunk they swung and dangled and small creatures would pick fruits from the vines and bound away with it. We climbed and climbed for what felt like days and weeks and years but time didn’t matter to us. We just moved with the beat of our hearts. And at the top of the tree was a house built into the branches. 

“What is this place?” I asked.

“This is me.” Æsir said. Twirling in all directions “Do you feel closer to me now that you have climbed my branches and explored the depths of my leaves.”

“I don’t understand?” I confessed.

“This is Yggdrasil, the World Tree, I am Yggdrasil.” She smiled politely. I looked around myself and took in the view of being at the top of the world tree. Æsir moved and opened the door to the house and invited me in. I accepted the invitation and entered her home. 

Inside the house was massive most of the furniture was made from roots or vines but it all looked perfect. I sat in a chair and was surprised at how soft it was. We ate dinner and she told me stories about her life and about the stars and celestials. She told me about her kind and the importance of her role in the balance and in the circle of life. The Yggdrasil lives to hold the world up and breathe life into it. She told me how her roots are the Ley Lines that fuel our large societies. I learned about how long she has lived and how long she has left. "A few years at best," she said. 

"How long is the lifespan of a Yggdrasil?" I wondered aloud.

"Trillions of eternities humans can't comprehend the life cycle of the Yggdrasil." She began to clear the table from dinner

"Then why are you dying?" I stood and moved to help her.

"This timeline is sick. And it's poisoning me. My roots are draining and I'm getting unable to refill them like I used to. I have looked into my future. There are very few where I live beyond the year 2023. None of them are good. And beyond that my life will come to an end eventually anyway." She quietly pulled water from the wood of a nearby branch and pulled it into a small wooden cup. 

"What is going to happen?" I asked. But she shook her head.

"I would like it if you would stay with me. You… are a wild factor… I can't see your past or future." She took a sip of the water and passed me the cup. "If you would like to return to your old life. I have a feeling that I might be able to see your past and future again and your life will become normal. You would never see me again." 

"If I stay with you. I'll be impossible?"

She nodded to me "If you stay then I'll ask you to watch over my forest with me and protect me until the end of my days."

I looked at the water in the glass and for a moment wondered what my life would be like if I'd not come here. I looked at Æsir and knew that I wouldn't want to be in that timeline. So without further delay I drank the water.

We were now connected by bond. A promise to stay with her until the end of her days. She took the cup from me saying "I'm so glad!"

"I feel confident in my choice." I smiled and stood from my chair. "Since I'm going to be staying here with you from now on. Where would you like me to stay?"

She showed me to a wing of the home with two guest bedrooms. "If you would like, you can stay in one of these rooms to sleep." She pointed between the doors. I felt a wave of exhaustion as I looked at the bed. It was apparent that I was tired from climbing the tree. I looked at Æsir and thanked her for the room. Feeling flustered I wasn't sure I knew how to part from her again. Sure enough she could feel how nervous I was; how awkward I felt. She came close to me and wrapped her arms around my waist in a light hug. "Get some sleep. I'll be here for you in the morning."

She would give me a title the very next day: "The Guardian". I don't personally believe she needed me for protection as she implied, but I would play the part. Put on the face she needed of me. In reality I believe she wanted the company. Someone who cared about her: to watch over her. Friendship at the least. 2 years later I'd learned so much about the world from her. I met several Celestials including Casper who is traveling with me currently.

She had spent the day in her main form as the world tree. I called this "her room" being the world tree allowed her to see the many branches of the timeline including the one we were currently in. It allowed her to fill the Ley Lines when they grew hungry and tired. She did a lot of good to benefit the humans she watched over. She even knew a lot of them by name.

She emerged from her room and told me that she had a request for me. "Can you abide by our bond? Can you do something for me even if you don't like it?" Was her words to me "I can only see your present form and what I have seen with my own eyes. It is clear to me you are in love with me."

"Æsir, I'll do anything for you. Even if you don't love me back."

"Can I ask you to do something for a reason only I know?"

"No questions asked." I replied she nodded at me and came so close I could nearly taste the maple in her hair.

"Will you kiss me?" She asked. My heart stopped for just a moment as the words fell from her mouth.

"Y… yes." I said, then I brought my lips to hers, they were soft and gentle and kind. The kiss lasted for what felt like hours. But it was surely only a moment. Colors invaded my vision and In the center all I could see was her in my arms. I saw myself holding her while our lips moved and shifted together between breaths. I saw us fall into the grass together and I felt every sensation as our bodies melded and held together. She laughed, exhaled deeply, and pulled my hair as I fell into her. I felt us tumble and turn each other around. The universe of stars, as her dress, fell away and I could see the edges of her existence. The taste of her skin, the song of her voice, the warm breath of her touch, the shape of her being, my belief in her kindness all came together as we did. My eternity came to an end as all eternities do. She kissed me once more before she left once more for her room. "Thank you." She said. "Please get some rest."

I remember my return to my room. being quick and effortless my own weight being insufficient to wear me down. I moved swiftly to my room deep in thought. Not caring for 'why' it had occurred and opted simply to contemplate 'what' had occurred. And I was happy.

Months passed and I did not see her. I didn't question her disappearance. I simply catered to her forest. No one visited her during this time. I had hoped for a visitor; it would have given me a reason to disturb her privacy just to see if she was well.

When she did emerge she was fragile and exhausted. Her frame weary and in need of recuperation. I cared for her in her weakness. I hunted and cooked for her. She insisted that she didn't need so much attention. It made me feel better to know someone was trying their best for her.

When she was better she took me to her room where a giant flower was preparing to bloom.

"This is the flower of Yggdrasil. It blooms in the center of the tree and presents forth a single seed. A new Yggdrasil to be planted."

My heart lurched. "You were pregnant?" 

She nodded "For a time I was, and I could not leave my body." She touched the bark of the tree gently.

"Is it mine?" I asked.

She blushed and looked away. "Yeah… don't you remember?"

"I mean I do… I just didn't know if it worked the same because you are… well… not human."

She rubbed her arm lightly, "It works essentially the same… but the seed needs a larger containment than my human body. So after a point of carrying the child needs to be transferred to a bud to be nurtured."

We sat quietly and I looked at the flower in the middle of the room. After a time I raised my hand. She looked at me mildly confused but probably more concerned. "Y… yes Kempachi?"

"What is their name?"

Æsir's face changed once it clicked. She smiled beautifully and charged into me almost knocking me over. "Thank you." She whispered to me. I held her gently and we watched over the seed together for our final months to come. None of the stars visit during this time.

The day the seed was to bloom arrived in 1996. The last week Æsir had grown rather restless and jittery. I did what I could to calm her but I guess if I knew then what I know now then I would probably have been nervous too. She took my hand that morning and took me to her room. "Kempachi?" She asked.

"Yes?"

"Do you love me?"

"I do."

"I love you too Kempachi."

"Æsir?"

"Sorry… it's just I… hoped I would have more time."

"You have all the time in the world, don't you?" 

"I already told you. My time is near."

"Oh…"

"Kempachi?"

"Yes Æsir?"

"I need to tell you something. I'm scared to tell you."

"We are bound together. You can tell me anything."

"I need to ask something of you." She pressed her back against me and held my arms tight around her. I felt cold wet spots fall onto my arms. "You don't need to say yes, I won't force you to do it if you don't want to. I knew this was coming. I didn't want you to go."

"Don't cry Æsir."

"When I die, the forest will close until the Seed returns to the forest to revitalise the tree." She squeezed my arms with her delicate hands. "I want you to stay with me, I want you to hold me when I die. So that I do not die alone."

"I'd be trapped in the forest."

"You might never be able to leave… and..."

"And?"

"I'll need to erase you from the timeline so that no one attempts to look for you. If the stars found you here with me dead they will assume you killed me. I can't bear that to happen. But if I erase you then you will stop aging and you could live forever trapped here in my empty forest."

I paused, I was unsure of how to respond but after taking a moment I understood everything. I twisted Æsir around to face me. Tears streamed down her face. I gently leaned her back and placed my arms over hers to hold her down. She looked surprised at me.

"You already know my answer. You have known for a long time haven't you."  
Her lips curled as more tears fell from her eyes then slowly she nodded. "Then kiss me and don't cry, I won't leave, because I love you from here to eternity." She pulled her body up past my arms and I pushed my head down to meet her lips. Are lips parted but the feeling lingered as we spent one last day together in each other's embrace. She fell onto me and enveloped my body with her love and warmth. Another eternity passed between us as we closed the distance in each other's heart and our bodies fused together if only for a time. I held her and listened to her voice. Only taking the time to kiss her in brief moments of silence. We rode that eternity until we couldn't anymore. I felt her body curl and her furious heartbeat against my chest. She kissed me as her sensations burst through her spine and when she pulled away she pulled my existence from my lips. 

The wisp of light that was my attachment to the life of mortality floated away from me and into the universe where it dissipated into ashes.

"The only thing left is to name her." Æsir explained.

"What were you thinking?" We stared at the pulsing and stretching flower bulb, her back pressed heavily against me. Her body became heavier and heavier the longer we sat.

"I think I know." Æsir whispered. She leaned in to whisper it in my ear.

Overtaken by the coming grief I squeezed her tightly and choked out the words. "It's a beautiful name. She will be amazing."

"I'm glad you like it." She took several deep breaths. "I've given her all of my ethereal energy. To add to her own." The light in Æsir's room began to slowly fade. "She will save the world where I could not."

Æsir handed me a note where she quickly scribbled our daughters full name, then the flower opened. Golden lights from inside the bulb flew outward and slowly collapsed to the floor. "Kempachi?" She began. "Please bring me to see her. I want to see our daughter." I stood slowly and picked up Æsir slowly cradled in my arms and brought her to see the baby wet and crying. Æsir extended an arm and from her finders sprouted tiny vines of wood that wrapped together and formed an elegant basket. I placed the note next to her and stroked her face gently. "Shhh it will be okay you will find your way." I said, and as if she understood, stopped crying and fell asleep. We stepped back and the flower closed again. A light followed the basket down a root in the tree and Kenny was sent to earth. The flower in the center of the tree began wilting immediately. And the great Yggdrasil Tree grew hard and petrified. 

"Kempachi?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Do you still love me?"  
.  
.  
.  
.  
"Always."

End of ACT 1.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We have now reached the end of Act 1. If you've come this far, i want to thank you! I hope you are having a good time. For your reference there are technically 5 Acts.


	7. Chapter 5: The Lingering Smell of Maple and Honey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Act 2: The Confrontation

Ash woke up in a hotel with Kenny fast asleep beside her. She looked around the room and it was dark. The shades were pulled to keep out the light. She checked her phone 12:32 PM July 31st 2023. "Fuck… what was in those drinks" She sat up to try to gain her bearings "Do I remember everything from last night?" This wasn't abnormal for her per say, generally she was more disappointed that she didn't black out. She looked at Kenny fast asleep, "Why are you so perfect?" Ash stretched and set off to shower for the morning. 

She knew the plan for the day she wasn't ready. The Celestials needed to be convinced to help fix the Ley Lines. She spent some time thinking about it but didn't like any of her ideas. "I know they will say no if we ask directly."

*********

Kenny awoke to a warm grey light and familiar scent. She couldn't recall, over her many memories, where she had seen this light or smelled this aroma. An aroma of Maple and Honey. She walked forward through the darkness toward the grey light each step sounded hollow and reverberated through the nothingness. When she reached the source of the light she found a set of double doors leading nowhere.

The doors were a dull grey she rubbed a hand on them; they felt cold and metallic. The door itself is decorated by a carving of a giant tree branching off in many directions, the roots of the tree penetrating and weaving through a planet. Two handles sat in the center of the display and upon an inspection she found the door to be locked.

She checked the other side which was void of a display, handles, or a lock. The idea of opening the door felt oddly pointless but the mystery of a pointlessly locked door intrigued her ever still. She decided to check her pockets for any of her personal belongings. She happened to have everything she had fallen asleep with and a little something extra. After going through the process of checking the inside of the lock with a flashlight she tried to slip a credit card between the door. This just resulted with her card falling onto the other end of the door which she collected and returned to her wallet. When she attempted to put her wallet into her back pocket she found the wallet wouldn't actually go all the way into her pocket. She checked the pocket thoroughly and pulled out a silver key glowing lightly in her hand. She brought the key closer to the door and the door began to glow at the same brightness and shade as the key. She inserted the key into the lock and twisted. As she did so the key disintegrated between her fingers and the door burst open with a great flash of light.

Once the brightness of the new setting cleared she found the darkness completely dissipated to reveal a dense but peaceful forest. Squirrels bounded in groups across dense treelines and a river flowed beside her with fish and ducks that sat atop the water and floated softly by. She stiffly began to walk unsure of where she was; she made sure to walk quietly and calmly. 

What made her so unsure of herself in this landscape was how unlike a trap it felt. This felt comforting and free and even magical to an extent. In her experience if something was this good to be true: it usually was. So she kept on her guard and started looking for ways to defend herself.

After walking for what felt like a few hours she felt hopelessly lost. She had begun to grow a feeling like the more she walked the closer she was to getting home. She pressed on and on until she finally saw something: a Hunter.

The hunter was tall and had long blue hair. He was pale and looked especially cocky holding a smug grin on his face. He held a longbow and a quiver of arrows on his back and he stood over the body of a fallen deer.

My own interpretation of him is unsure… To my personal knowledge no one should be here. Not in this forest. His behavior feels familiar yet so distant. From my understanding of him he has probably lived in this forest for a long time. 

Kenny waited for him to clean his kill and move on. Her intent was to follow the man however he would probably hear her if she approached too close. 

It took him 45 minutes to skin and clean the meat, he cut away the pieces that he intended to eat which seemed like a pretty sizable amount for a single individual. She anticipated finding multiple people wherever he was setting up camp.

He began to move on, and she watched him until he got far enough away. She was sure he wouldn't hear her if she followed. They walked for close to an hour before she saw where he was leading her. A massive tree stood in the forest grey and hollow. The leaves looked dry and lifeless unlike the lush green in the rest of the forest. She observed the area around her and found several massive branches of the tree that had fallen. These fallen branches had destroyed whole sections of landscape that had been underneath. She looked up to try to see the top of the tree but found it was too tall to tell. 

The hunter began his accent up the tree, she began her own climb 15 minutes after him. She found climbing the tree itself wasn't terribly difficult; her body felt mostly weightless however the roughness of the petrified bark felt uncomfortable on her hands.

They traversed and hiked and climbed up the tree but as the climb continued Kenny grew more and more tired. Hours had passed and Kenny still had no frame of reference for how tall the rest of the tree was. She wanted to stop to take a break but the hunter didn't stop. He didn't need to. He had made this climb every day for who knows how long. He was trained to climb this tree. She felt her pace slowed and she began to fall behind. And soon she had lost the hunter completely as he vanished behind a mass of tree branches. 

Kenny took this opportunity to rest; she knew that she wouldn't catch up to him now. Not without a break. She found herself thirsty but had no water, no food. Climbing down at this point was futile, her only choice was to climb the rest of the tree. 

After her rest she picked up the pace and began to climb on her own; following her intuition. The leaves grew thickly around her and she felt in her heart she was close. After another hour, she found a house in the center on a massive clearing near the top of the tree.

She looked at the sky through the leaves above her it was still daylight; just as it was when she had arrived. Time didn't have an effect on this forest. She saw the hunter through a window on the side of the house. Her stomach gurgled and the dryness in her throat made her question her suspicion of the man. She calmly walked over to the window he was closest to. She watched him wash the meat he had collected. She noted how young he looked; he was roughly her age but she thought twice upon reminding herself that Bielebog looks young too.

She took a few deep breaths and moved quietly to the door which had been left open. She thought about the hunter and his actions. He was completely unconcerned with anything. His door was open; he hasn't even so much as turned around or suspected that he might be followed. She began to rethink her understanding of the hunter. There was no group. It was just him and he was all alone. Though this new thought process could be construed as desperation; or trying to rationalize wanting to ask him for food and water.

She took some deep breaths and entered the house. Her boots hitting the solid wood floor made a loud clicking sound as she walked. The interior of the house was clean and wide open. There was vine furniture decorating the house. The kitchen where the hunter stood was directly connected to the main entryway she had entered through and he was quickly alerted to Kenny's presence.

The hunter turned fast on his heels, his eyes locked with Kenny's. His jaw fell open and shock entered his hand which suddenly began to feel tremors. Kenny saw confused tears well up in his eyes and the venison in his hands fell away and hit the floor. He didn't move; he simply started with tears streaming down his cheeks. Voice trembling he spoke up.

"Æsir?"

A burst of bright lights flew up into Kenny's eyes and temporarily blinded her. When her eyes opened again she was in her hotel.

*********

Kenny woke up groggy, hungover, thirsty and Ash was still in the shower. She gathered up some clothes for the day and put them folded on the bed, her clothes on the right and Ash's clothes on the left. She promptly went downstairs to get food for the two of them. "What the fuck was that place?"

************

"Czernobog!" The thug threw an empty can across the club, his brother evaded the can with grace and style.

"Biel? Do you need something? I'm currently planning." Czernobog didn't look up from his 'blueprint'. It wasn't so much a blueprint but more of an outline of possibilities for the afternoon trying to plan out every possible outcome.

"We need to talk about today. Those two girls are going to try to recruit us." Bielebog slammed his palms on the open bar where his brother was scribbling notes.

"I'm aware, there is something to them. They may even succeed. The one from the future sure seems to believe that they will." Czernobog flipped his notes over.

"You know as well as I do that things aren't always as they appear just because she saw us helping them in the future does not mean we are helping to save the Ley Lines. That's the humans' problem if they drain them." 

"You wouldn't by chance be biased because of her absence would you?" Czernobog looked up with a blushed smile on his face. Bielebog crossed his arms and huffed.

"If she isn't refilling the Ley Lines then that is her choice."

"What if it isn't?"

"She locked the forest. It's not like we can just go and ask her."

"That's not what I mean." Czernobog's writing got more hectic and scrambled as he scratched faster against the page.

"She met some weird human and then locked the door. What are we supposed to believe? We haven't even been able to find the bastard."

"What if she didn't lock the forest?"

"She is the only one who can right?" 

"No. It will also lock upon her death when it occurs."

"Okay, but we already ruled out her death didn't we?"

"We couldn't find a successor and The Sagittarius didn't see a successor in her future."

"The Sagittarius can't see her timeline at all so that investigation was deemed inconclusive at best. What is more curious is that body guard of a human." Czerbobog's pencil snapped in half in his grip his intense excitement flowing through his veins. "The Sagittarius couldn't see his past, present, or future either."

"Is it possible that he killed her?"

"It is possible; if he doesn't know how to act as the Yggdrasil then he wouldn't be able to open the door. However I think there is an even more plausible theory now that all the pieces are in place."

"But if he did kill her then he could still be trapped there which is why we can't find him!"

"Again possible. And if we didn't have new evidence pointing to the contrary then I'd recommend we gather to open the gate." Czernobog pulled a new pencil out from his coat and calmly started on a new page of notes.

"We couldn't all agree to open the gate 27 years ago. What makes you think we would do it now?"

"Someone else will open the gate for us."

"Are you suggesting that there is a successor after all?"

"It just might be improbable enough for us to consider the possibility."

"There are still too many possibilities if that human did manage to kill Æsir then what?"

"Then he will eventually learn how to open the gate himself and will tear the world asunder!" Czernobog finished his notes and flipped to page one. "But I would like to test my theory first."

"You noticed Kenny too didn't you."

Czernobog nodded in response.

"I'll admit she looks… and even smells just like Æsir… minus the hair."

"She opened a Ley Line… and can see beings who live within them. She is suspicious. It is entirely possible Kenny is the new Yggdrasil." Czernobog passed his notebook to his brother.

"Is this really what you suggest we do? I'm not convinced that the human didn't kill her." Bielebog looked at the notes being turned toward him. He read Czernobog's plan up and down. It was thorough and comprehensive and frankly to the point. "Okay, I'm on board. But I'm not dropping this." He tossed the notebook back to Czernobog. "Let me know when they get here." He proceeded to stomp his way down the club until he reached his back room.

He slammed his fist into the wall putting a hole through several layers of wood and plaster. He retracted his arm from the wall and brushed it off.

"Æsir… what is your plan?" Bielebog whispered through clenched teeth and fists. "What would you need to hide from us."

**********

Ash's shower had run pretty long, she had lost focus and her train of thought over and over; she didn't know what to do. "They are unknown. We don't know anything about their capabilities or their moral weaknesses or how to bribe them. They know we are gonna ask them to help so the ball is in their court." She took several stressed deep breaths. "Maybe thats the fucking point. We don't know anything about the Terrorists and we still need to find a way to stop them from causing more harm… this is part of it… if we can't challenge the Celestials on their playing field we can't do it for the Terrorists." She settled in her resolve and turned off the water.

She stepped out of the bathroom to find Kenny eating mcdonalds in a pajama shirt. "Hey you!" She said, passing a bag of food to Ash. "Feel better?"

"What makes you think I was less than fine?" Ash accepted the bag and sat on the corner of the bed

"Well you did take a 45 minute shower." Kenny took a bite into a sandwich.

"Yeah… I mean I was just stressed. I don't know how to ask a Celestial for help."

"Well don't worry because we have the 'Away Team Advantagetm!'" Kenny flexed her arms to show off fake muscles.

"That… has no advantage to it at all."

"Probably not but I wouldn't worry about them. Our knowledge of our actual enemy and how they utilize balance is what will win them over."

"I could probably work the balance angle, but we don't know anything about the Terrorists. So how will that help?"

"I mean we know quite a bit actually…" Kenny finished her food and flopped on the bed in the 'general' direction of her partner. "We should probably talk about them anyway because we need a plan of attack once we get Bielebog and Czernobog to help out."

"Why am I so out of the fucking loop. This is ridiculous. I feel like I'm just some fucking side kick. I know that all this magic shit makes sense to you. I barely understand real life! How am I supposed to just know how any of this works?" Ash tossed her food to the side and buried her face in her hands. Kenny frowned softly and wrapped her arms around Ash and pulled her toward the headboard of the bed. Ash curled up to Kenny, feeling guilty for the outburst.

"Hey, I'm sorry." Kenny squeezed Ash gently.

"What are you sorry for? I'm the one who yelled." Ash sighed defeatedly.

"I should be more open with you about what I know… I'm not used to having someone with me who knows what's going on. You are a welcome change of pace… I just don't know how to talk about what is going on in my head." Kenny lightly pat Ash’s arms in a calm drumming pattern. “Let me tell you what I know and we can go from there.”

“The group we are fighting is calling themselves ‘The Chrono-Illuminati’ which is run by a soldier named Mercury.

“Mercury is a run of the mill soldier type. He likes to kill people mostly, but he also likes money. He plans to initiate a multi-faction war by secretly selling Chrono-Weapons to all sides.”  
“Chrono-Technology is good in theory but it harnesses the energy in the Ley Lines to function, which means since the Ley Lines don’t refill that means when they run empty...”

“All major civilizations will be wiped off the planet.” Ash interrupted with a sudden realisation.

“Yes, exactly. And over 80% of the planet will be dead, and uninhabitable.” Kenny continued

“Fucking Hell.”

“Where I was in the future distribution had already begun. And Mercury was preparing for a full assault on multiple countries; he has an entire army.”

“An entire army locked and loaded with slow reacting Nukes.”

“All the other armies will have them as well.”

“How the fuck do we stop that?” Ash pulled out of Kenny’s arms to look backwards at her sceptically.

“I don’t know.” Kenny said quietly, her determination wavering. 

They sat quietly in silence for a while, contemplating how to proceed. They cuddled on the bed for a time and Ash buried her face in Kenny’s belly.

“You smell good, you know that?” Ash remarked through grumbles. 

“Yeah?”

“You smell like Maple syrup… and Honey.”

“That sounds sickly sweet.”

“I like it.”

***********

Ash finished her breakfast and got dressed while Kenny took her shower. Once packed and ready the two took a lyft to Gemini.

They arrived at the club to find most of the employees missing; employees who on normal occasions would be prepping for tonight's patronage. The club's lights were not glowing pink today as they did yesterday. They were actually a deep fluorescent. A lighting that was exceptionally hard on the girl's eyes.

The twins sat in the center of the room at a table drinking beer and laughing. Upon an initial glance things seemed quieter than yesterday but over all normal. Upon further inspection Kenny could taste blood in the air. She could feel the intensity in Bielebog's personality; it was harsh and rigid. Ash felt a calm flowing through Czernobog as if he was unconcerned with their arrival.

They approached the table where the two sat and took a seat of their own.

"You two need something?" Bielebog took an aggressive gulp of his beer.

"A few things. Yeah." Kenny looked at him directly without blinking or waivering.

"Hey look brother this one's mad doggin' me." Bielebog laughed heartily.

"If you need something from us you better get on with it. We have a busy schedule." Czernobog drummed his fingers on the table smiling disheartedly at Ash.

"The Ley Lines are in danger. Having two Celestial Stars helping out would make our lives a hell of a lot easier." Ash faked eye contact with Czernobog. Fake eye contact that he noticed. The confidence in her wavered unlike the energy of Kenny who was trying to contain her excitement.

"I see, well that will be more difficult than you think. Because we can't just help you." Czernobog turned to look at his twin who followed up with, "Balance, mother-fuckers, get it?"

"I'm of the belief that you two can help us find a loophole." Kenny shifted her gaze to Czernobog.

"The loophole is we have free will, if we wanted to break the balance we could. But we are trying to remain impartial in your human conflict. If you burn your own world in war then that is your problem." Bielebog ran his fingers through his hair and looked up toward the ceiling bored.

"What happens to you if this planet burns?" Ash asked, trying to put on a more collected appearance.

"We just go to another timeline, no big deal." Beil waved his hand uninterested.

"There are too many unknown factors. We can't risk tilting the scales.” Czernobog turned away from the girls to insinuate disinterest in their plight.

“Your scales are bullshit and you know it. What good is balance if balance obliterates all life on the planet.” Kenny slammed her hand on the table. “If you want to tell me one life isn’t worth the risk of destroying everything fine. I will accept that, however you are trying to push some bullshit that if you get involved that the situation could get worse than the obliteration of the entire timeline. Don’t spoon feed me your bullshit, because I’m not going to take no for an answer.”

Czernobog and Bielebog shared a brief glance and collaboratively sighed.

"Fine by your logic it's hard to see how this situation could get worse. But even with us two helping you it's not like we can stop a planetary scale Time War." Bielebog shook his head defeatedly.

"I don't care, we need to at least try because we are dead otherwise." 

The brothers sat quiet momentarily and nodded.

"Okay we will help you." Czernobog said, taking a sip of his own beer.

"Really?" Ash asked.

"We leave tomorrow morning. Your car will be arriving in the next hour, grab everything you need before it's time to go." Bielebog and Czernobog had agreed before this conversation even took place that they would help. This was because of their belief that Kenny is the Yggdrasil who was meant to be their leader. They have been on their own since 1996 so with new hope to find their leader again their best option was to help Kenny. They opted not to disclose this and allowed the girls to believe that their intervention had made a difference in their opinion on the matter. It was easier than trying to explain Kenny's fate, best to just let her fall into it on her own.

Ash went outside to wait for their car to arrive. She felt calm and the wind helped her feel at peace with herself. With everything moving so quickly she quickly found herself overwhelmed in thought. Getting away was a good solution to her frustration. Kenny came out of the club with 2 coffee's.

“They are playing at something.” Kenny passed a cup to Ash. “They were fully intending on joining us from the moment we walked in.”

“I guess that only stands to benefit us. I just can’t see why they bothered putting up a fight at all.”

“It could be a formality. They seemed to crumble under any argument about their balance.”

"Balance only makes sense if there is something to weigh against. If all of the celestials are truly impartial then there isn't a scale and their interference would make no difference in the future." Ash accepted the cup and blew on it to cool it down.

"You know you could have been the one to talk to them." Kenny sat by ash and leaned the back of her head against Ash's shoulder.

"Right now they trust you for some reason it's better to keep playing clueless sidekick."

"I don't want a clueless sidekick. And you don't want to be the clueless sidekick. I like when you are smart." 

Ash took a sip of her coffee. "They probably have a personal stake in our goal. Most likely they suspect something about one of the key players." Ash evaded.

"So who are the key players? Not including themselves." Kenny outstretched a hand as an invitation. Ash took her up on the offer and took Kenny's hand into her own.

“Well, Mercury for one, maybe they know him.”

“I doubt it. When I was in the future they seemed like they were just on the brink of understanding what he was capable of. I doubt they know him.”

“Okay, is Caleb a Key player?” Ash took a larger gulp of her coffee now that it was cool. 

“Not that I was made aware. He tends to just fuck around, to settle his personal vendetta.”

“Well, then the only other options are me, which makes even less sense than Caleb, and you.” Ash gave Kenny a concerned look.

“But if I was important why are they only stepping in to help me now?”

“Maybe they learned something within the last 12 hours?”

“I don’t like this.” Kenny thought quietly for a moment. “What should we do?”

"Right now my only plan is to wait for the car, smoke, and go back to the hotel."

"Thank god we are on the same page." Kenny drank a big gulp of her coffee. It still was a bit too hot for her but she was determined to take in as much caffeine as she could. She wasn't sure she wanted to sleep tonight. Her dream was still weighing on her mind like a bad itch that couldn't be scratched. She had an overwhelming feeling that if she slept that something would happen and she was terrified of that. Memories of waking up in a new place terrified her. 

They waited and let time pass over them and they thought about what awaited them. Kenny thought about whatever terrible pot of shit sat at the end of another grey and dull rainbow. Ash on the other hand thought about a plan of action for the next step. She threw several ideas at the wall. Intel, a brute force attack on some vague main distribution center? A threat maybe? Too many ideas bounced off each other and it stressed her out. She gripped Kenny's hand tighter. "Kenny, it probably isn't possible to locate a legitimate IP for the original video that went up detailing their selling plans… but what if we tried to find them by buying from them?"

"Would that actually work?"

"Well if Czernobog buys them then yeah it should work fine he is a reputable gangster and coke distributor so a thug buying weapons isn't suspicious."

"But we are going to be on the move?"

"Most weapon distributors will have a set up where we can test out the weapons for efficiency. Most likely higher ups will be meeting with big name buyers such as country leaders. But gang buyers will get lackeys. Its quality assurance at its most basic. If they really are as wide spread as they say they are then they won't have a problem meeting us at our hotel tomorrow even if we end up in another continent."

Their 4RUNNER arrived shortly thereafter followed by another car. And four simple looking thugs got out of the cars.

"This fuckin' car belong to one o' you?" A tall man layered in tattoos and a septum piercing with a buzz cut pointed at the girls on the sidewalk.

"Yeah, 4RUNNER is mine." Kenny raised her hand and took a heavy gulp of coffee.

"Coo' coo' can you do me a favor an' show me your Driver's Licence? I wanna cross check it with the vehicle reg'."

Kenny pulled out her wallet and showed him her ID. He seemed satisfied with that. With a wave of his hand they all filled inside. The last one to go in handed Kenny her keys and shut the door behind him.

The girls went through the car, nothing was moved and in fact was cleaner than when they had left it. They checked that all their belongings were still in their suitcases and their pot was still there. They wouldn't be able to confirm the quantity but they eyeballed their stuff and everything still appeared to be in order. 

A feeling washed over them of discomfort and unease. Kenny felt a presence behind her and she instinctively turned her body to face the approaching danger.

“The fuck do you want Caleb?.” a cold chill ran through Kenny’s voice.

“I just wanted to touch on what we talked about before.” His blond hair blew softly in the wind. His hands sat firmly in his pockets.

“Kenny? Is he here?” Ash grabbed Kenny’s wrist slowly and comfortingly.

“I really don’t know how you are able to just take everything I say and do at face value.” Kenny looked at Ash, with sad and broken eyes. 

Ash didn’t respond immediately, as she was about to speak Czernobog opened the front door and made his way towards Kenny and Ash, between him and his goal was Caleb. Whom he stopped in stride to not collide with. 

“Elemental you are in my way. Please Move.”

Caleb’s heart felt stiff and cold. His eyes lit up with fear and discomfort. As a cold, heartless, and calculated wave of rage and sorrow filled the air choking everyone around him. Ash’s breathing stopped and she began shaking violently with fear. Her eyes widening and her heart pumping. Her vision blurred and her hair and skin burned hot like fire in her veins. To catch her breath she began hyperventilating and grasping for her throat.

Kenny in reaction grabbed Ash and began pulling her away from the wave of emotion clouding their thoughts. She gripped Ash’s hand and told her to grip her hand back in bursts and to take deep breaths. 

“I’m getting you out of here.”

Ash took a moment to hold her breath to gain control of her breathing, her vision returned momentarily and she saw Kenny with massive tears streaming and pouring down her face holding on to herself with every step. 

Caleb being significantly closer to the source of emotion was faring significantly worse. He began to mildly glitch in a sense. His senses were fairly heightened from living and viewing events from the recent past present and future. In a way his mental state was overflowing with hateful thoughts of himself and thoughts of suicide in a montage. Berating his thoughts his arm twitched out of existence momentarily, then his head flickered and returned twitched and crooked, tears raining down his face and his nails digging into his skin while his other hand pulled on his hair heavily and angrily. The wave of negative emotions felt heavy like an 8 ton weight on his back and he fell to the floor crushed by the weight of his despair.

“Please..” he sobbed “I’ll leave I’m sorry.”

And then the emotions dissipated just as quickly as they came. With the fleeting feeling Caleb vanished into the wind.

“What the fuck is wrong with you!” Kenny yelled from the hood of the 4RUNNER. “Ash is having a fucking panic attack because of you. What the HELL.”

“I was trying to get rid of the nuisance for you.” he consoled semi-unapologetically he understood the reason they felt the way they did, but was unsure as to why they were not grateful for his efforts.

“You fucking can’t go around mind raping us with your fucked up emotional BULLSHIT.” Tears still cascading from her face, her voice finally broke. “Why would you fucking do that with us standing here. You fucking dick.” she wiped her face with her sleeve. “We are going back to the hotel… we will be back tomorrow, and we will leave when WE get here. It will probably be in the afternoon.”

“Bielebog would prefer if we...”

“And you can tell him why we will be late.” Kenny interrupted. “Un-Fucking-Acceptable.”

Kenny gathered Ash who was shaking and breathing heavy and placed her in the passenger seat of the 4RUNNER.

“I am sorry.” Czernobog tried.

“Well sorry isn’t good enough right now.” Kenny shook herself to force all her negativity out. It didn’t work but she felt better in a placebo effect kind of way. She got in the car and drove to the hotel. 

“Hey do we need to get you some water.” Kenny tried to keep her eyes on the road, her head spinning from Czernobog’s attack. She felt the desire to try to help Ash as best she could despite their circumstances.

“I just need a minute.” Ash took a few deep breaths. “Can we smoke right now? I need to.. Just… fucking...” As Ash spoke she began trying to move her arms for emphasis. What actually was emphasized was how little she was functioning. It frustrated her how badly she was affected by Czernobog. “I… don’t want you to be mad at Czernobog. He did tell me he could do that. I just didn’t know that was what he meant.”

“He did know and he shouldn’t have gotten involved especially not without… a warning… or with us out of range. I just don’t appreciate what he did. It still hurts.” Kenny slowly and quietly pounded her fist on the steering wheel in a drumming motion.

“I know, it was wrong for him to act so suddenly… I just don’t think he understood why he shouldn’t have stepped in.” Ash opened and closed one fist to try to regain muscle control. “Lets just go smoke in a parking lot for a bit and then go back to the hotel.”

Kenny nodded “Okay hun.” They pulled off into a closed Bank of America and began to smoke which helped to relieve Ash of her nerves. On their way back they stopped for Taco Bell and very clumsily ordered too much food. They laughed and at least for the context of the rest of their evening stopped thinking about what had happened and instead focused on their last night of normality.


	8. Chapter 6: 7 Milligrams of Dimethylmercury Per Kilogram of Body Weight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 6 is incredibly long, and is separated into numerous parts. According to Google docs it spans from page 99 to page 161. I hope you enjoy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My friend who is a med student helped me with research for the title of this chapter. I'm not a med student myself and know very little about poisons and toxins. She helped me find a highly deadly type of mercury, and the amount it would take to kill a human incredibly fast.

Mercury was holding out in an underground militia encampment on July 31 2023. It was brightly lit and overly clean and specific. Everything had a place, everything was labeled. It was too contained and easy for his taste. His waiting for the combat to ensue left him bitter and agitated. He walked to his working table. An area he secluded in each base for himself it gave him a space to work which mostly included disassembling and cleaning his weapons. He took a cloth and wiped down the surface of a blade clearing it of blood. He hadn't made the effort to clean his gear recently. Due to the amount of orders for guns that had been placed he was kept pretty busy. Mercury always seemed quiet especially so when he was alone even from his own thoughts he felt still: deadly. As he sharpened his blade he concentrated on the fine detail the flow and feel of the curve to his steel. In his concentrated state his eyes flicked a deep shade of red. The whites of his eyes darkened to a deep grey. His breathing got heavier and the corruption in his eyes spread. The outer corners of his eyes cracked like lightning and rippled down his flecks of pink skin molded to grey, like cement, the cracks shifted along his face and cheeks as he made expressions.

"Aaauuuugh." His voice rang out in an anxious groan. His hearing amplified harshly with a blaring ring of his eardrums. He can hear conversations through the majority of the facility. The silence in the room he himself was in infuriated him. Mercury heard a set of footsteps approaching his location. He waited patiently, stalkingly, counting the spaces between the footsteps and the door. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the footsteps while he began to wrap up the sharpening and cleaning of the sword.

He felt the vibration in the door knob when the man placed his hand on it. The door slid open and Mercury without hesitation launched out of his chair and within a second he was in front of the one who'd desturbed his privacy. The point of his blade ran through the victim's torso while a small knife had been dragged across his throat to prevent a scream.

"Wrong time, wrong place." Mercury's voice crackled like his face. Letting out a big empty smile grey cracks burst and flicked about his cheeks. The corruption spread from his face into his shoulder while he lowered the man's lifeless corpse to the ground. The blood spilled onto the white floor in a large pool Mercury knelt into the pool to check the man's pockets. He had been in military grade outfitting and had an exceptional amount of pockets. Mercury quickly located the man's Dog Tags 'Andrew G Celtzer'. After removing the dog tags the only thing left was to put them with his collection. Mercury had collected dog tags from.any soldier he killed. He kept his collection of dead soldiers on his hip. 

He used to tell people "This way someone will get a reward for killing me. If they ever get the chance." He kept that collection on him every day however he began to think of it like a cemetery. A reminder of all the dead he held in his hand. All the lives he took control of and put to an end all of his success and his inability to experience failure. It was proof of his status as a god of death.

The corruption shifted back up his shoulder and up his face and back into the corners of his eyes and then it was gone.

He sat down quietly back in his chair. He didn't bother to clean the blood or the body. It was well known that he was prone to kill people for insincere reasoning. This wasn't out of the ordinary. He disassembled a Chrono pistol and reassembled it over and over to relax himself.

In a sing song voice he whispered a tune saying

Inevitably a soldier enters the room to the dead body on the floor, the soldier’s name was Saera. She was usually on edge around Mercury but was the only one who would willingly bring bad news to him, he grew used to keeping her around. He didn’t care about her, he simply didn’t see an interest in killing her which was -- in his mind -- the best compliment he could give. She stood at attention quietly in the entrance to his work space. After a period of silence he waved his hand and grunted. She approached him brisly. 

“Sir.” she began, “We have a distribution problem in missouri.”

“Define problem?” he pushed the safety of the recently reassembled gun and pointed it slowly around the room at different varying objects.

“Disgruntled American Soldiers got their sample of tester weapons. They turned them on our distributors and stole a truck.”

“Our men shouldn’t have been so careless. Are there any survivors?”

“Not to my knowledge sir.”

“Damn, would have given me at least an excuse to kill a few extra lackeys.”

She didn’t respond to his jab about killing her comrades. She stood quietly unflinching.  
“I really should make a point about stealing from us.”

“I agree sir! On principle alone we need to make sure this won’t happen with further sales.”

“What base?”

“St. Lucas Military base.”

“Fine you are dismissed. Make sure that all distributions and sales are finalised before the seventh.”

“Yes sir.” She saluted her superior and left the room with haste.

Mercury stretched and smiled.

*********

Kenny awoke bleary eyed and exhausted. She pulled herself from the bed, it was noon. She checked her phone. August 1st, 2023. She threw some clothes together for herself and Ash. They took a shower and packed up their belongings and left the hotel. At 1PM they drove to McDonalds and ordered food for all four of the party members, as a sign of good faith. Not that McDonalds is the best food to fix a rough patch, but lunch was lunch. They arrived at the Gemini, grabbed all the food, and went inside where Bielebog was laying on the floor face down bored out of his mind. 

“I brought lunch.” Kenny offered to the floor facing gangster.

“I’m sorry about Czernobog.” He grumbled through the floor. “But for fucks sake it's nearly 2PM”

“Yeah well I brought lunch so get up we can ship off whenever you two are ready.”

“Where are we going?” Ash inquired between the three of them.

“St Lucas Military Base” Czernobog answered as he entered from the back room.

“Why there?” Kenny handed a bag of Big Mac’s to Czernobog, and placed a bag of Quarter Pounders on Bielebog’s back.

“That Base is home to a number of High ranking military officials. We need to go in and persuade them to attempt to help us seize the means of production… so to speak. The sooner we limit the quantity of these weapons the better and the longer we will have to try and stop this Chono War.” Czernobog sat down and kicked up his feet onto a table and began gnawing on a Big Mac.

“Solid Plan A.” Ash started. “What is our Plan B?”

“How about Plan B is ‘Dont fuck up Plan A’” Bielebog rolled over to consume his food.

“Solid Plan B.” Ash rubbed her forehead with her index and forefingers. “I think the two of us should go to the military base, and the other two should instead attempt to locate a major enemy hideout.”

“Got any ideas on how to find an enemy base genius?” Bielebog smirked.

She wrapped her arms around herself and looked at the ground self consciously. “I think that Kenny and Czernobog should go to the base, and me and Bielebog will attempt to buy a bulk supply of tech from the source. If we meet up with them while they are in the middle of another sale we can pretend to buy, once we have established trust. We can press them for details about their hideouts.”

“That’ll work in theory.” Czernobog said gruffly wiping crumbs from his mouth.

Kenny slowly pecked Ash on the cheek, “Good job.” she whispered.  
After lunch the crew congregated in the back room of the Gemini their intent was to navigate the Ley Line - near instantaneously - to Missouri. 

Kenny outstretched her hand to the back most wall where they had opened a rift into the establishment, and sure enough a purple rift split open before them. 

“Okay everyone get in I’ve gotta go last.” She seemed a bit shaky opening the rift, she felt an odd sense of familiarity this time. She had been in the Ley L ines enough to feel familiar. But it felt closer to home than she had ever felt before. The others entered the rift and Kenny threw herself into the crack which closed around her as she entered. The technicolor walls exploded around them sending them off into many different directions. Ash took the time to bounce off the walls a few more times to show off for the Celestials who only managed to shrug at her in response. Czernobog led the pack and guided the group. After what felt like an instant, in real time, they emerged from a rift of their own making outside of a small town in Missouri.

“We are here.” Czernobog announced however what they walked into was pandemonium. The sounds of fire crackled ahead of them along with quiet but definitive shouts of people begging for their lives. Multi-colored dusts burst in the distance.

“That city is dying.” Bielebog said calmly. “Most likely the CI we need to leave for Lucas.”

“We need to split up, Bielebog go with Ash. If the CI is there you can get someone to talk to Czernobog. We will head to Lucas before the CI gets there.” Kenny scowled her blood pumping with fury. “The plan can’t change, Just get back safely.”

The Celestials looked at each other for confirmation and nodded. Kenny stood behind Czernobog.

“Better keep up Ash.” Czernobog noted and started a brisk jog toward the city.

“I’ll see you soon.” Ash looked at Kenny mournfully “Stay safe.”

Kenny nodded quickly at her. And then her and Czernobog ran to a nearby road to obtain a vehicle.


	9. Chapter 6 Side A: With Great Power Comes Military Enforced Genocide.

Bielebog and Ash charged into the town. They had started only about a mile off from the town, but had traveled within a decent range pretty quickly. Ash had to stop to breath after a few minutes - but they arrived in town with close to no trouble. As they got closer, they noticed there was something off about the attack. A small distance away from them, they noticed a checkpoint of sorts guarding the entrance to the town. The smoke and fire in the air thickened as they got closer. To avoid the checkpoint they took a detour which brought them in a wide circle to avoid being seen. 

“Why are they turning people away?” Ash asked - winded.

“They don’t want people to know it's an attack.” He looked around on both sides of him before determining they had a safe entry distance. 

“But why? They already had four much larger attacks and they made sure they were live broadcasted. So why be all sneaky about an attack now?” Ash kept close to Bielebog, watching their backs. 

“Not sure, maybe they want to let off some steam?”

“I guess it’s possible… this just doesn’t feel right to me.”

They walked a while longer and managed to reach a building beyond some cheap roads. Not much was happening on the outskirts of town. Ash looked toward one of the main roads being guarded and saw a sign ‘Welcome to Branson’: it read. 

“The city is Branson.” she told Biel.

“Hmmm, The fire is spreading to the outside buildings. Why would they set a fire?” 

“Nothing here makes sense.” Ash offered. “We should try to find a group of civilians. There may be some people hiding. That is our best chance to understand what’s actually happening.”

“I guess we’re checking buildings then?” He only half complained at the idea. The problem was how many buildings were nearby let alone at the source of the fire.

“Not all of them. Someplace sturdy somewhere that people can defend themselves.”

“You aren’t as useless as you make yourself seem.” Bielebog noted. He turned his head to find Ash blushing slightly at the compliment. “What would happen if we charged to the source of the action?”

“We would probably find answers easier however the cost would be a greater risk to our life.”

“And what if I’m immortal?” he added.

“We don’t know how the weapons work - but I have a few ideas. Red looks like it causes the affected party to age rapidly. Blue teleports someone either forward or backward in time. And Grey freezes someone in stasis. So if any of that would subvert your immortality we are at a disadvantage the moment one of us gets hit.”

“Well, two of those don’t really matter but if I get sent backwards in time. That could cause a few problems.” He peaked around the corner. “There is a library pretty close to the center, but would the library be a good defensive spot?”

Ash thought about it. “Not if there is a fire, but the building would be more resistant to fire at least externally if it were made of brick.”

“I think we just landed a jackpot.”


	10. Chapter 6 Side B: A Savior For All Of The Wrong Reasons.

Czernobog drove North in a stolen Toyota Camry. They were only 10 minutes from SIMB. Well, the first entrance into the facility, however fences and guards would no doubtedly be posted to keep them out.

“Sorry I yelled at you yesterday.” Kenny stared out the window. Czernobog didn’t respond, this was better in the long term, Kenny didn’t want a response. Kenny just wanted a fresh palette, an apology was the best way to get it. 

“Do you think that it’s possible the timeline was misaligned thousands of years ago and we are finally feeling the effect from it now?” Kenny asked him. A feeling of unease grew as she asked, a feeling of disarray and confusion. The sentience of their discomfort shrouded their intent.

“It is entirely possible - unfortunately.” he replied “It’s possible that some of us even knew about it.”

“Did you? Did Bielebog?”

“If such a thing did happen. We wouldn’t know about it. It would take some form of omnipotence. And there is only one truly omnipotent party. They can’t tell us though. Not in the way we perceive warnings, not in words.”

“Who would know?”

“The Sagittarius. However, we don’t know where they went.”

Kenny acknowledged his answer. She turned and looked back out the window. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was coming. A corruption, an evil. An incorporeal blade sliding through the center of her ribcage. A stabbing pain, a non-existent pain.

It wasn’t often but she could feel where people were: if she knew them. When she thought hard enough or felt close to them - she could feel them like a metal detector. Usually it was for people she hated. The best use she had gotten out of her sixth sense was to help her locate Caleb when he would be stalking nearby, or perversely watching her from a distance. She could honestly live without it. It mostly just gave her anxiety when Caleb would watch her. The thought of him made her sick. Thinking about the last time she had seen him made her laugh, seeing the fear and pain of being near Czernobog. It made her smile, the smile made her disappointed in herself though. She hated feeling like she wanted bad things for another person, however at this point in their relationship she barely considered him to be a person.

She put an earbud in her ear and began to play transient music. It would keep her in a safe place until they parked the car.


	11. Chapter 6 Side A Part 2

Ash and Biel found the back entrance to the library, an employee emergency exit door. It was a room for employees to sort returned books. They tested the door: locked. Biel offered his pistol to shoot the door, however Ash declined: too loud. She dug in her back pocket and pulled out a small tool kit: containing lock picking supplies, gloves, c and a few other nicknacks and tools for random burglarising needs. 

“You fancy yourself a pickpocket bruv.” Bielebog asked in a needlessly mocking fake european accent.

“I can unlock doors and snatch a wallet. But I'm better when I'm drunk.”

“Why?”

“People trust that drunks who just bumped into you and fell into the trash are in fact just drunk and not stealing your wallet.” She felt around the lock for the pin and pressed upward, the pin clicked lightly, and spun the lock. The door opened quietly. Biel patted her on the back encouragingly and they infiltrated the library. 

Inside was quiet, but there was shuffling and talking happening in 2 different directions. They walked through the maze of book carts and treadmills that push books into piles. A few doors lead them to the main public quarters but they saw a few patrols of soldiers walking through the area.

“Shit the CI have the library.” Ash hid behind one of the doors to not alert them.

He shook his head. “They don’t look like CI. But they definitely have Chrono guns.”

“Colored Veins?”

“Yeah. They look like military.”

“The Calvary?”

“Wouldn’t put money on it.” Bielebog sneered contemptuously.

They sat quietly contemplating their next move. They heard a pile of books behind them fall over.  
They turned fast trapped between an unknown and the military, the two felt entirely surrounded. Biel took note of their situation and determined he would be best suited to investigate. He walked into the sorting room.

The sorting room itself was mostly the same however he noticed the downed pile of books pretty easily, as they had fallen off of one of the carts. “Someone was in a rush, they didn’t bother to clean up the mess. Probably a civilian.” He gestured for Ash to follow him and explained his observation under his breath. They checked under tables and around the corners really scouring the area but were having trouble finding anyone. When suddenly one of the patrols made their way into the back area with them. Ash noticed the door opening first and made a swift move to slide under one of the conveyor belts. Narrowly she avoided the feet of the conveyor and pressed her back to the wall. In the farthest darkest corner is where she finally saw who had knocked over the books. A small child about the age of 12 along with another child who looked no older than 8. She slowly pressed her index finger to her lips.

Bielebog on the other hand simply forgot to hide. The two soldiers were a short man, and a medium built woman both in US Militia garb. They drew their guns immediately.

“Get on the ground.” The woman announced.

“Wait.” Bielebog attempted to warn them not to open fire. Both guns were pulsing red. He shrugged when they approached. 

“Get down or we will open fire.” She said calmly, holding a strange quiver in her cheeks trying to maintain face.

Biel took a quick step forward slamming his heel down on her foot. She didn’t bother to evade with the confidence of wearing steel toed boots. However when the steel bent inward and dug into her toes the shock caused her to let loose and fire. Biel moved to the side to evade fire and ripped the gun from her hand. The Chrono gun was quiet to fire but was loud enough that Biel wouldn’t be surprised if others had heard it outside.

With the Gun in his left hand he knocked the girl out with the butt of the pistol. With his other hand he drew Celeste off of his back and with a full 360 degree swing smashed the pipe into the other soldier's head. The encounter ended within 4 seconds. He quickly dragged the bodies outside. Ash waited for a bit listening holding her breath trying to see if anyone else would be coming. After a moment she determined it would be safe, she waved her hand to signal the kids it was safe. 

All 3 of them left from under the conveyor belt. Together they walked out into the back door where they entered and witnessed Beilebog who was throwing the soldiers into an industrial sized trash bin.

“Bielebog I found some kids.” Ash tapped him on the shoulder, “Dude we gotta get them somewhere safe.” 

“Dude?” he confirmed.

“Um, Excuse me?” a tiny voice spoke up. It was the boy.

Ash knelt down to be at eye level with the children. “Hey I didn't catch your names. I’m Ash.” she extended her arm to shake their hands.

“Im James, my little sister is Samantha.” He shook ash’s hand the best he could.

“Where are your parents: kids?” Biel began to pat his pockets for something, ANYTHING to smoke. 

“I think they are dead.” He said quietly, shaking softly as he spoke.

“You think?” Biele elaborated.

“Yeah. they disappeared. I don’t know where the bad people sent them.”

Biel grimaced “Sorry kid.” 

James nodded at the ground.

“We gotta find somewhere for them.” Ash reiterated

“Got any ideas?” Biel shrugged at them.

“Well… to be honest I have absolutely no idea. Let's go back inside and maybe we will think of something.” Everyone followed suit. 

Ash went to check on the patrols while Beil attempted to distract the children by showing them Celeste. He was mildly disappointed in their lack of interest in his pipe. Ash opened the door just enough to see through. She drew a sharp breath in surprise. Inside the main library all of the patrols were dead already -- at least, as far as she could tell. Arrows stuck out of the dead, protruding and seeping blood from their fresh wounds. Ash called Bielebog and ran out as fast as she could to see what had happened.

The first soldier she looked at was a woman who had an arrow stuck through her throat pinning her to a pillar. The next soldier was missing an arm which had been cut away by an arrow and had stuck to the floor at a 45 degree angle. The killing blow to this soldier appears to be two arrows protruding from his face. All of the soldiers who were supposed to be guarding the library were all dead. Biel entered the room and -- after the initial wave of shock -- began rummaging through their pockets for identification. They all had dog tags. Yet no one had any written orders or anything indicating why they were here in the first place. Then the thought came to Ash in a sudden burst of realization.

“Bielebog, what if whoever did this is still here?” she offered. Bielebog put a finger to his lips and nodded at the possibility. He scanned the room as best he could. From his standing position. All of a sudden an arrow fired through the air. Ash heard the thwip of the bow string and Bielebog heard the wiz of the arrow cutting through the air. The arrow made a loud thunk when it landed next to Bielebog holding an envelope on a string. Bielebog opened the envelope quietly but dramatically so that whoever fired would see him make the effort to read the message.

“Truce?” it read. Bielebog spoke clearly into the air.

“Truce!”

That was when a long blue haired man fell from the rafters onto the second floor of the building, climbing down book cases and then down the second story to another bookcase on the first floor. The man walked with his long bow over to Ash and Bielebog.

“Bielebog? How have you been dude?” From my memory, the man who spoke goes by the name of Kempachi Ramasama. His hair is much longer than I remember it. Stretching down to the back of his knees. 

“You are that human who was guarding the Yggdrasil aren’t you?” Bielebog asked.

“Wait, what the fuck? first of all.” Ash stood up. “Second of all, who the fuck? And third.” pointing to all of the dead soldiers. “Why the fuck?”

Kempachi raised his hand as if to ask a question of his own. Ash stared at him, then his hand and then squinted confused. She looked at Bielebog for confirmation that what she was seeing was happening. Bielebog ended the confused stalemate.

“Yes?”

“To answer your questions in order I should explain what’s been up. So yes, I used to guard Æsir. As for who, my name is Kempachi Ramasama, Guardian of the Yggdrasil. Why did I kill them? Well because I’m doing my job.” He hooked his Bow to his back, and began collecting his arrows from the soldiers. 

“He was picked by the Yggdrasil herself.” Bielebog announced sarcastically. He squinted in concern as he directed. His attention squarely on the 'druid ass lookin` motherfucker'. Kempachi, didn’t seem to care at all. After collecting his arrows, he sat down in a chair for a break. 

“What happened Kempachi?” He clarified his statement by exchanging it with a question with hopes to invoke a response.

“She died.” He said simply.

“Okay one step closer to an answer, so that's why the roots aren’t refilling.”

“Yeah. It was a while ago I couldn’t tell you how long though. Time kinda doesn’t work for me anymore.” he waved a hand past his face back and forth.

“God damn you - showing up now.” Bielebog scowled.

“Not like I had a choice in the matter.” Kempachi shrugged off Bielebogs anger and stood up. Ash who had mostly watched this unfold spoke up again.

“Wait so… I'm sorry there’s just a lot of new information for me. I'm confused.”

“Human?” He pointed and looked at Ash, who nodded calmly. “Okay well first, Yggdrasil is a person, just as much as she is a tree. I accidentally stumbled into her garden and she made me her bodyguard. Being a human like myself, you will probably feel out of your depth at first, this shit gets easier.”

“I definitely feel out of my depth but thanks for the explanation.” Ash began trying to piece together context for the rest of the earlier conversation. “If the Yggdrasil is dead then isn’t our mission already moot?” she asked

“Not quite, it depends on how she died. If she was killed then someone else took her place as the Yggdrasil: and isn’t doing their job.” He looked angrily at Kempachi who ignored his frustration.

“If she died of Natural causes?” Ash began to pace around the room.

“Not tangibly possible, they can’t die of old age, they can only die if they are killed, or if they intentionally choose to die and produce an offspring.” Bielebog clarified. The tension in the room grew palpable to everyone except Kempachi who continued to relax in his chair. “Too bad no one knows how she died.” Bielebog mocked.

“Yeah too bad.” Kempachi responded.

The two kids who were waiting in the back room entered the main room after hearing the conversation.

“There are kids here?” Kempachi asked and began to walk toward them.

They froze in place and didn’t try to run from him. When he got to them he sat on the floor, criss crossed and pulled a metal container from his coat pocket. He opened it to reveal cut fruit: apples, oranges and the like. Jacob and Samantha’s faces lit up and quickly accepted the food. They sat together at a table and ate quietly but talked between each other. 

“Someone needs to wait here with the kids. While the rest of us go out to find more survivors.” Kempachi, looked at Ash and Biel.

“Are you volunteering Mr. Bodyguard?” Bielebog put his hands in his pockets.

“I don’t care who does it but they need to be capable enough to actually do the job right.”

“Bielebog, watch the kids. Kempachi I’ll go with you to search buildings nearby.” Ash offered her own solution.

“Why” Biel asked

“If the two soldiers you knocked out wake up then you can interrogate them. Something I’m sure you are familiar with. I have a phone, you have a phone, but if Kempachi says he has been locked in a garden then he probably doesn’t have one. On top of that I have a sneaking suspicion that you don’t actually trust Kempachi. So you’ll be more at ease if someone is watching him and I can’t fight so I need someone who can fight to be with me.” Ash stood up and walked over to the table, the kids were sitting at, and sat down with them. “Any questions?”

The two men shrugged and Kempachi emptied his pockets of food and headed for the door. “I’ll be outside waiting.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note that in any instance where Kempachi is considered "Speaking", he is using the (Oswald) font.


	12. Chapter 6 Side B Part 2

Kenny and Czernobog exit their vehicle just outside the main entrance to the Military Base. Getting in was easy, especially due to the lack of a guard. However their first suspicion was raised when there was no one to escort them inside. And once inside they found no one within the immediate vicinity. After traversing a few hallways and still finding no life to speak of Czernobog became worried. He closed his eyes and focused searching for traces of emotion in the area. After a few moments he found a few people in rooms far off but not many and they appeared to be hiding. There was however a round room with a decent amount of people inside. He alerted Kenny.

"You… found people by scanning their emotions?" She inquired.

"Yes, that is my… talent. If you would call it that. Emotional Manipulation is what Biel has coined."

"That sounds terrible, you need a new name for your powers."

"I don't care what we call them."

"Well in any case, if you can tell what emotions are being emitted by people, then what emotions are they feeling right now?"

Czernobog calmly began walking toward the door for the main round table room. "Fear." Is all he replied with.

Kenny followed behind him. She knew she would be almost useless in a fight and would probably need to flee at the first sign of legitimate danger. She took the liberty of looking for a sign that would take them to an armory of some kind. She resigned after a few hallways and determined that the armory would be an entirely different building. This was more of a meeting space than a barracks. There were rooms with computers and the floors were cement. The building was cold and humid, reminiscent of a dungeon.

They turned a corner and did a double take. Suddenly they found where everyone had sauntered off to. Blood was painted on the walls, reddish-brown and drying, they had been sitting for a few hours. A few of the bodies in this hall had wide gashes and cuts on their bodies, faces, and arms. Others had parts of them that aged physically to a point that they were either dry bone or had become dust entirely. A few suffered normal bullet wounds, but others were frozen midair with a pained look on their face, along with any other wounds the had suffered. The air smelled rotten and metallic, the smell of blood and death. Kenny covered her mouth with her hand. She took a step back at the sight. She'd never seen this many dead in the same place before. Not in real life. She felt ill like she wanted to puke. The feeling built up in the pit of her stomach and moved its way up her torso until it reached her throat. The smell wasn’t helping her either. She took a moment to herself in a clean area of the previous hallway and began to vomit. 

Czernobog attempted to ignore Kenny while he investigated the bodies themselves. However his empathy flared clouding his mind. Shaking off his pity he scavenged through a few pockets and found they had no dog tags. Not one of them, he also found they all had all other forms of identification they brought with them. He found that all of their cash and cards were left in pockets and that their guns were right where they had fallen in battle. None of the rooms they had passed were broken into and in fact with the exception of the quiet and this hall of dead soldiers, nothing was out of the ordinary. The question peaked through Czernobogs mind. “Who attacks a military base for no reason except to steal dog tags?”. 

He kneeled silently over their bodies and silently wept for the fallen. Tears flooded his eyes as the sadness poured over him like molasses.

When Kenny gathered herself together. She spat into the corner of the room to try to get the taste of bile out of her mouth. She stumbled nauseatingly over to Czernobog.

"Are you alright Czernobog?" Kenny put out a hand and gently rested her palm on his shoulder. The grief felt slimy on her skin as it washed over her. Tears welled in her eyes and together they sat mourning the lives lost. Slowly he dialed back the emotion and Kenny looked at his face. He was strained and looked to be in major physical pain. Drool and tears mixed like paint on the canvas of his face. He strained to contain the overflowing emotion holding it at bay as best he could. Kenny removed her hand in shock. In moments his pain began to subside.

He pulled a small plastic wrap of tissues from a pocket and began to clean his face. 

"I'll be alright." He clarified. "Sometimes I can lose myself in an unexpected emotion."

They walked for roughly 10 more minutes in dead silence walking past blood and death. Their faces gave Kenny a chill on her skin and anxiety in her lungs. They eventually found their way to a stair-well that led to the room with most of the surviving members of the attack. Czernobog tried the door. It opened with ease and inside they saw several older men in high ranking military wear and a man covered almost head to toe in blood. Kenny recognised him from her visit to the future. Mercury. He turned ever so slightly to make eye contact with Kenny. 

“Come on, I've been waiting for you slow motherfuckers.” He began.

“Waiting?” Czernobog asked calmly, he left the door they had entered open in case of a quick escape. He scanned the room, no other viable exit strategy was available.

“Yeah! I'm not going to give the villain speech if everyone isn’t here. I’d need to monologue twice.” Mercury concluded.

Kenny tried to relax; she felt in her bones that everything would be fine. She wanted to try to give the same reassurance to Czernobog however he was extremely preoccupied with Mercury.

“Why kill everyone in the base?” Czernobog asked. “Why only take the dog tags and leave the rest of the facility untouched.”

“What an asinine question. Who fucking cares? Because I wanted to? You seem to think I killed everyone on base. But I only killed whoever got in my way. Everyone else is off killing Brandson.” his voice was low and seemed to contain a slight growl.

“The town nearby?” Kenny shouted at him.

“Yeah! You stumble into them on the way? Really messy shit back there.” Mercury let out a hearty laugh.

“Are you implying you don’t have a reason for attacking this base? As far as I can tell you are the only one here attacking. Why take such an unnecessary risk for nothing?” Czernobog rattling off on his own line of questioning.

“Blah Blah fucking Blah, If I died oh well it’s not like anything changes. I came here to teach these FUCKS a GOD DAMNED LESSON. They stole from me so I’m setting a fucking example. Not just a simple lesson either. A global lesson. To anyone. EVERY… ONE. They need to learn. So here I am a one man army killing off a military base and a town.”

“I thought you said that this base’s occupants were killing off the town?”

“Yeah! And who do you think sent them there?” Mercury unsheathed his Chrono Blade and began pacing back and forth pointing the tip of the sword at the generals and lieutenants. “People are so fucking easy to manipulate. All it took was a fake intel leak about a Chrono Illuminati base and they sent 70% of the base to kill terrorist spies. Its fucking hilarious. Now I’m here with all the men giving orders and making sure they all send the right orders out. American soldiers slaughtering their own people. Obviously I’ll take credit for it. And send that warning to the rest of the world. Watch them try to fuck with us again. No, now they will buy their guns. And they will evolve and soon the whole world will be equipped to initiate an Eternal World War. One I'll continue to benefit and profit from until the end of time.”

“You don’t understand what you are doing Mercury!” Kenny shouted at him. “You will destroy all life on earth within a month. It will be nowhere near eternal! And you can’t profit from a war when everyone is already dead!”

Mercury smiled a humorless dark smile. “On the contrary I know exactly what I'm doing. Put a fancy label on a pretty box with a bow and the ignorant will eat that shit up. ” a red spark flashed around his cheeks and his grin grew. “I have bigger plans than just obliterating this plane! I'm after the head honcho.”

Fear stabbed through Kenny like a spear and halted all of her thoughts and speech. She shook cold as blood ran from her limbs. Czernobog’s face grew uncomfortable and he grit his teeth. Fear pulsed through everyone in the room all of the soldiers either froze or began to slowly back themselves into a wall. Mercury stood grinning even brighter - sweating with elation - and in a sense almost enjoying the displacement of emotion in the room. The fear fed him.

Czernobog without moving a muscle grunted and whispered to Kenny. “My… Emotions are being clouded with fear. My power is being corrupted by fear; he can’t feel fear - or he enjoys the feeling of fear. In any case I can’t help you here, we need to leave.”

Kenny forced a nod. Then they turned quick on their heels and ran out of the room. Mercury with a laugh vanished from sight.


	13. Chapter 6 Side A Part 3

Kempachi lowered a rope from the top of a nearby bank. He instructed Ash to climb up. She hadn’t done any rope climbing since she was in high-school but managed to climb semi-hastily. Once she arrived at the top Kempachi held out a hand and pulled her up. She looked at him up and down he was shirtless but wore a black and yellow trench coat. He had knee high gothic combat boots on and had bright blue cargo pants. She looked at his hair. A bright vivid blue nearly the color of his pants. It stretched all the way down to the back of his knees. The whole ensemble was covered neck to toe in belts, zippers, and straps.

“Hey I like your hair.” she mentioned casually trying to spark a light conversation.

“Thanks… it’s actually natural.” He replied as he flipped his long hair over his shoulder. And walked to the edge of the building scanning for soldiers.

They made it a point to try to cover as much ground as possible. They traversed rooftops and moved toward the main town center where most of the fires were burning brightly into the night time sky. On their way Ash decided to try uncovering the truth behind Bielebogs' distrust towards Kempachi.

“So… you mentioned you got trapped in the Yggdrasil’s Forest?” Ash pondered aloud.

“Yeah. She asked me to stay with her and so I did for a while. When she died the forest closed and only a Yggdrasil could unlock the door for entry. Once the door unlocked I could leave but not before that.” He fired a hook from his bow onto a roof that was too far from them to leap to, he tied the other end down tightly and he extended his hand out to invite Ash to climb the rope first.

“I have no clue how to tightrope walk.” she admitted awkwardly. He began to rethink the approach to continue moving. “How did the Yggdrasil die?” she asked, scanning the roof tops for alternate routes. 

Kempachi looked longingly at the ground. “She… poured her life’s energy into her child. When they do that they die.”

“Why would she choose to die?”

“I don’t know but it stands to reason she wasn’t this timelines’ first World Tree. Cause your Stars seem to know the ins and outs of the Yggdrasil lifecycle.”

“Okay so let me make sure I understand, you were guarding the Yggdrasil, and she died giving birth. You got locked in. If only her child could open the door then they had to be how you got out.” Ash tested the firmness of the rope tied to the other building and got an idea. “Hey side note I think I can climb this rope by crawling.” Kempachi nodded and sprinted across the rope and awaited Ash on the other side. 

Ash sat down on the edge of the building and grabbed the rope with both hands, once she had a firm grip she dropped off the edge and dangled from the rope by her hands. Swinging back and forth she wrapped her legs around the rope and began to shimmy down the tightrope.

“Theoretically you are right. But there are too many questions, as far as anyone is concerned, I was the only witness to her death. So I could have easily killed her, this puts me in a tough spot because I need them to trust me so that we can band together to find the real successor. They won’t trust me until I can prove I'm not the Yggdrasil. And I can’t do that unless I find the real one. So now I'm kind of fucked… but not entirely… still a little bit, but not really…. Only kinda.” Ash was almost to the other side, and Kempachi grabbed her by the arm and pulled her up with only minimal discomfort.

Ash huffed and puffed and sat down on the ground winded from the climb. “Okay well. If you really didn’t kill her then we need to find the real one maybe they can help save the timeline.”

“Easier said than done. You are talking 1 in 7.8 billion people I don’t even know if they are on this continent. And more than likely they don't know they are any different from anyone else. So convincing them to just abandon their life to guard a forest won’t be the most appealing job offer.” Kempachi began scouting out the enemy lines. “Plus I don’t know if I can ask them to stop this… they are a Yggdrasil with no experience how will they be able to stop this. Æsir was confident and strong and experienced. She didn’t believe she had the power to stop this.” his voice grew solemn and tired. “I just don’t want to lose her too.”

“Her?” ash inquired. He ignored her question.

“We are almost to the hostages. We should get going.”

“Wait! Hostages?” Ash shouted.

“Yeah, duh. The Military came in, took hostages and started setting fires. And dragged people out of businesses and houses. They killed roughly half of whoever was here to set an example. They intend to kill anyone who doesn’t tell them where the terrorists are hiding.”

“But there’s no terrorists here?”

“Exactly, they are following a bullshit lead. But people started shooting back and now we have a war zone with hostages in the middle. Don’t worry I have a plan though.”

“I do too.”

“Let’s hear it!”

“I’ll go around the back and start leading hostages out. You need to pick off guys until I get there and watch my back for gunners.”

He squinted while he weighed the pros and cons. His plan felt more succinct. However he wondered what she was seeing that he was neglecting. “There are a few problems with your plan.” he concluded he would benefit from showing Ash his capabilities.

"Care to elaborate?" In a responsive glance Kempachi shook his head.

They leapt between a few buildings until they came to a street where bullets were being exchanged between civilians and soldiers. Kempachi palmed three arrows and drew one back on his bow. He let it fly allowing the arrow to pierce the throat of one of the firing soldiers. “Watch this.” he boasted - with a running start - he leapt from the building loading another arrow, letting it loose and hit a soldier in the forehead. Kempachi’s momentum allowed him to plant his feet on the wall opposite him as he crouched, holding him firmly to the wall he fired his third arrow into the final soldier’s eye. When the last arrow flew Kempachi began to fall landing on his back, however he transferred his falling momentum into rolling momentum and somersaulted out of the fall.

Ash stared bewilderingly.

"And you can just do that shit… just… because?"

"Mostly it's years of being bored and alone with endless target practice." Kempachi shouted up towards Ash.

"Okay well I don't care how you distract the military, just keep them occupied for a few minutes."

"You are either asking me to kill them all or to die trying." Kempachi threw a grappling hook at Ash to reflexively catch it.

"How long can you 'be a thorn' so to speak." Ash affixed the hook and began spelunking down the rope.

"Assuming I can collect all of my arrows mid fight to keep shooting. I'd say I can hold my own for maybe 3 minutes. Again unless you prefer I kill them all.”

"Okay. So I have 3 minutes to gather the resisting civilians and get out." 

"That is best case, worst case is instant failure and death but I don't think you will need to worry about that. Probably. Again reiterating that after 3 minutes I'm going to begin killing extensively." Kempachi pulled his arrows from the three soldiers and replaced them in his quiver. Ash hesitated in a response. Nervous almost, she felt anxiety pulse through her under her skin in waves. She clenched her fists and put on a brave face.

"Try not to kill everyone. I'd like to say we are better than them. On a moral level."

"Don't you have some kind of 'don't kill anyone ever' resolve?"

"Do I need one? This situation is complicated, I'm not going to sacrifice innocents to save the guilty."

"I like that answer?"

"Save your aptitude morality tests for after we get out of here please. There's only two of us so we need to go: now!"

Kempachi, despite the odds, had a sense of undying - undeserved - courage. Believing wholeheartedly that if he wants to do something he will find a way, despite a lack of tools or skill required to back up his claims. His immense and unfounded courageous attitude was his strongest weapon. He doesn't believe in friendship or love or the power of others, he simply believes if he does something for the right reason no matter the consequences he will weather the storm. Ash almost found admiration in him, however it was quickly shot down by his arrogant cocky nature. Though she found him to be rather heartfelt when he deemed it necessary.

Ash found the civilians who had been firing back from around the corners of the surrounding infrastructure. She pointed them to the library and then, together, they continued the trek toward the middle of the fight.


	14. Chapter 6 Intermission: Casper the Friendly Shape Shifter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This Chapter suffers the most from the limitations of AO3. and is proof i shouldn't be posting this here.
> 
> This chapter has numerous fonts. I'll try to list them at the end of the chapter in the notes.

“Ah yeah, okay cool. It's time. It’s my turn. My name is Casper. I’m the Capricorn. Who are you? Actually that’s not important, well even if it’s important, I'm not sure I care.. What is important is maintaining the truth. The cold factual truth. I’ll probably be cut off before I get to the good stuff; that’s okay. I’ll just tell you what I can. 

What do you do when you and 13 others wake up in an empty timeline.. I’m not talking about the beginning of time. Time already existed. We just showed up. It was part of us. A clean slate. No memories of how or why. No Yggdrasil. Well - there was a Yggdrasil. But just a seed. A boy. A child he was our first Yggdrasil. He was weak when he came into his power of life. He grew the solar system; time flowed through his veins; and he used it to give meaning to life he created. It came to him like nature. He taught us how to care for humans - he taught us how to maintain balance and to get along with our fellow stars. 

We all became “god’s” most of us weren’t comfortable with the idea of ruling. Most wanted to be guards, just to protect them. To keep them so we made ‘laws’. It’s such a loose example to call them laws or even rules. What they were was suggestions. Some took it more seriously than others. 3 in particular abandoned any form of compliance and did anything they wanted, not always for good, not always for bad. But why does this matter. Who gives a flying fuck if one of us tilted some bullshit “balence”. No one. That’s who. No one cares. Hell Æsir sure didn’t… not that she did anything wrong either. She treated us all like family. Even me. I don’t know what the other stars feel. But this existence. Being a celestial. It’s hard. It’s lonely.

We are different. I can shapeshift. Beyond the capabilities of the others we all have some level of shapeshifting. Our clothes for example are all bullshit smoke and mirrors. So we can repair it like skin. Change a feature or even change your whole face. But I can shape shift everything. I'm an amalgamation of sorts. All at once I can make one arm 30 feet long. I can shapeshift into animals or insects I can shapeshift my eardrums to expand my hearing. I can change the make-up of my eyes so I can see better. I can alter my face to anything or anyone I choose. But this means that I don’t have a face of my own. I don’t have something unique to me. No matter what feature I add or mix all I get is another person's face somewhere, somehow. If creativity gets the best of me it’s like becoming a monster of sorts. Not to say there are any bitter feelings. I’m lonely but I’m content. It’s become quite a thrill being a con-artist, you humans have made it so much more interesting now. Guns have really spiced up the game. Because that’s what this is now. It’s a game. Why did we need 13 Zodiac Celestials, why did time exist in an empty universe to be channeled through a child? Clearly even Celestials can’t know everything? Even the Sagittarius: if it’s outside this world they can’t see it.

So why? Where did the game begin? When did balance tip? Frankly I don’t give a fuck about it. Just food for thought. I’m sorry what was the question?” 

“I said ‘Let’s start at the beginning’ and you started bitching about the beginning of time and shapeshifting, it’s a good story for children. I don’t care for whatever drugged up psychotic bullshit you keep up in that head of yours. I want your accomplices.” The unimportant pig responded.

“OH that’s right. Forgot sorry I just got over excited. I get like that. My favorite part about the con is the interrogation it’s just so FUCKING fun.” My face lit up in euphoria with the expression. Being in this chair in these handcuffs. It was too easy. So fucking easy. So borish. Augh it’s still harder than during the medieval period. Fuck I’d almost prefer this.

“Why did you rob the Grand Platinum Casino?” The pig put his gun down in the middle of the table while his partner stood over me menacingly.

“Why are you so boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooring.” the pig jerks his head up at the camera in the corner of the room. It once faced me, now it faced nothing as a 3rd cop pulled the cord from the wall.

“Okay Let’s try your way.” Pig 2 Grabs my head and slams it harshly against the metallic table the skin splits around my forehead he lets my head up and I sit back, grin spread wide across my face. 

“I don’t understand you Kid. I have enough evidence to put you to fifteen counts of grand theft of banks, casinos, and rich millionaires homes. Not only that. Not only do I have finger prints on weapons used and dumped at each site but I also have pictures of you on security cameras in and out of the facilities placing you at the scene of each of these and these are just the ones I know about. Your most recent heist was the Grand Platinum Casino and Hotel. But… What makes me so fucking confused is that you practcally lead me to you.” HE Pulled out four pictures of low res camera footage of my ‘accomplices’. “You, ON CAMERA, had all of your accomplices look at every camera they could see you wanted them to be identifiable, you personally left your 20% on the middle of the road with an address that gave us all the evidence we have against you: why?”

“You assume that i'm in charge? You assume correctly. But that isn’t going to get me to sign a confession.” The second pig cold clocked me across the cheek. I loosened my gums to allow a tooth to slip from my mouth. I spit the tooth into his face, the blood splattered into his eyes and mouth. A hearty chuckle escaped my lips. “You two are fun!” The first Cop pulled out his metal Baton and pressed the round tip into my chest.

"FUCK YOU" The second, frankly more abusive pig, went to swing but was held back by pig 3.

“I’m not going to be much more fun if you don’t start confessing.” He paused for a second. And then excitement spread across his face. “You wanted us to catch you. We already know that. But now that you are caught you don’t want to talk. You wanted to be here. You want to be in this room. You are intentionally goading us into brutality.” With my limited mobility I put a finger on my nose ecstatically and then pointed at him with my other hand. “Why? You have money apparently you have the resources to get away with 15 heists and not get caught. So what can we provide? What would make ‘the great Arsene’ come off his high tower?”

“You think I'm as good as Arsene? Now that is just insulting. I’m 15 times better. Not because I'm smart. You don’t need to be in theft. All you need is the resources. But to answer your basic as fuck question. BECAUSE IM FUCKING BORED. You underestimate boredom like you underestimate me. You underestimate because that is what you do. You get to be better than people for a living: isn’t that special? So when a real threat appears you fail because you think you know all the answers. But let me break this all down for you, (my plan) because this chair is awful.”

“I’m all ears.”

“I would totally try being all ears if I were you. I’m on a roll right now, I wanna ride this adrenaline kick. My plan was not to rob a casino. I did. Obviously. But that wasn’t actually my full plan, the plan is still in motion. My plan was to break into a police precinct and get into the evidence room to swipe some of the evidence of the terror attack.”

“Why do you care about the terror attack - Let alone the evidence we have on it?”

“You have one of their guns! And I’d love to see it. I’d love to have it. But police precincts are a bit harder than most places: cameras, keys, there’s close to no civilians, almost all police or armed guards. Getting in would be easy, hell I'm pretty sure I could even get out. But the point is to get in and get out basically undetected. Ghost mode is so much more fun than to - just - go in guns blazing. It’s why I don’t get caught. No bodies means the more people get to live with the fact that they failed. And I’d love to break a police precinct by making the most prized detective in the NYPD steal crucial evidence to a case being handed to the FBI in roughly 10 more minutes.”

“You are going to somehow… convince me to steal evidence against a known terrorist organization for you - and you want me to let you walk out with it?”

“Oh no nothing so difficult. The best part about my 10 minute time limit is that I can do it in 2, so I have plenty of time.” I shrunk my hands quickly and just so slightly that I barely slipped out of my handcuffs. I grabbed the gun from the table and knocked the abusive partner to the ground with a pistol whip. Extending the length of my right foot like a bulle the heel of my foot connected with the jaw of the third pig. The talkative pig attempted to shout for back up and stood from the table. I grabbed him by his thin hair and pulled his face close to my own. Placing a finger on his throat he stopped being able to sound out. “I tried to tell you before. I’m a shape shifter. But I didn’t say that I was limited to shifting only MY body!” With that I shifted his entire body to look like the main culprit right down to his DNA and fingerprints. I handcuffed him into the chair and shapeshifted into his original body. “You know, I think we are really starting to make progress.” I said “Here is what is going to happen. I’m going to go to the evidence room with your body and impede an investigation before the FBI can get a chance to take the evidence. You will be the one who takes the fall for it. OR… If you’d like I can leave you in the body you are in. You’ll do time for grand theft but you are more likely to survive your time in. I don’t think prison guards care much for traitors; do they?”

“All I need to do is tell them you made me do it! Then we will be able to find you!”

“Oh? Shit… I forgot … You are right. The likelihood that they will believe that a shapeshifter stole your body and used your body to steal crucial evidence is pretty fucking high isn’t it? Or is it more believable that you used me as a distraction to steal a weapon of mass destruction. It’s not like you have any proof that I can actually shapeshift. Your partners are unconscious, you unplugged the camera and because you considered the need for violence in order to obtain a confession; there’s no one watching us on the other side of your double sided glass. I couldn’t be sure however, so I adjusted my vision to see through it. Sure enough we are in fact alone and you made that all possible! You are in handcuffs once again you vile criminal scum! I can’t wait for you to try something to get out you wiley escape artist son of a bitch!” I winked at him and smiled “So! Which crime do you want to take the fall for? Believe me. There is at least some notoriety in being a soon to be retired thief on this big of a scale.”

The squealer sighed and started staring at the floor dazed, trying desperately to find a way out of my trap. “I’ll be you. I’ll be the thief.” I clicked my tongue at him.

“Good for you. You’ve made a smart choice!” I collected all of the detectives personal belongings and affixed them to myself. “Oh but for clarification sake, I’m a Con-Artist. Not a Thief! Good-bye Detective.” And with that I pulled the unconscious detectives out of the interrogation room and shut the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Their are (13) fonts, these fonts include:
> 
> Nothing you could do  
> Comfortaa  
> Spectral  
> Courier new  
> Lobster  
> Impact  
> Luckiest Guy  
> Amatic SC  
> Alegreya  
> Comic Sans MS  
> Lora  
> Proxima Nova  
> Special Elite
> 
> The cops and Sagittarius talk in Courier New, so when Casper shifts to become the cop he takes his voice as well and uses courier new as well. in most if not all other cases he is using a unique font of some kind indicating that his voice is constantly being changed.   
> In later chapters Casper talks with these fonts and more. but doesn't take over as narrator again. so less font BS.


	15. Chapter 6 Side B Part 3 Attempt 1.

Kenny sprinted down the hall, in the distance she saw a sword sticking out of a dead soldiers' chest. As she passed she wrapped her hand around the hilt and pulled it in motion. She turned a corner and as she did Mercury, who had vanished from behind her, suddenly appeared to her left side in a red electric flash. She flinched and jerked the sword up successfully blocking Mercury’s furious downward slash. It violently rocked her shoulder but she kept running. She felt Mercury stalking from another layer of reality. Kenny’s breath became hard and deep as she ran through the base - desperately - trying to get out. Mercury appeared with a shoulder check smashing into her knocking the wind from her lungs. Kenny’s back slammed into the wall. She bit her cheek and yelped in pain. Mercury twisted the handle of his sword, the veins changed from a grey to a deep red. His grin spread violently across his face. And with a blur all she felt was cold metal pulsing time through her stomach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .


	16. Chapter 6 Side B Part 3 Attempt 2.

Kenny burst into a sprint out of the war room… again? She clutched her stomach. The cold ache where she had been stabbed was gone but she felt the fear pulsing in the back of her mind. "I just died." The fact ran through her mind briefly on a loop. She looked around the hall as she began to run. She knew she got stabbed. “Maybe it was a vision?” She tried to rationalize her situation. Nothing felt right; she grabbed the sword from the dead man’s chest and more properly braced herself for Mercury’s sneak attack.

The flash, he clashed firmly against Kenny. She ran down the hall and waited for where she knew that he would re-appear. It happened, he flashed, and she stopped all of her forward momentum. His shoulder check missed and sent him into the wall. She quickly took a swing at him with her sword which didn’t appear to be active. His arm suddenly dislocated out of place to block her strike. 

“What the fuck!” she blurted out in an enraged confusion. She quickly turned on her heel and ran in the opposite direction - back toward the assumed to be dead generals. She turned her head back around - Mercury was gone, as she had expected. A crater left in the wall where he had made an impact. She turned again swiftly so that she wouldn’t lose ground in the facility “CZERNOBOG!” She shouted at the top of her lungs which were running out of breath she needed to stop but she couldn’t without fear of death. "WHERE ARE YOU!” she shouted.

A crackling voice echoed through the halls “No one can help either of you. The stars will fall!” She didn’t see anything, yet she felt a weight slam down on her from behind. Her body violently slammed into the ground shattering her jaw and blood pouring from her chest. She tried to stand but the hilt of his sword caught her back, she was pinned down and bleeding out.


	17. Chapter 6 Side B Part 3 Attempt 3.

Kenny burst from the war room panting heavily, vision blurring and melding together she felt nauseous. She definitely died. She felt it in her bones. "Why do I keep dying and restarting?" Her stomach turned over, doing everything she could to put the strain from her death out of her mind. She broke out into her sprint: The block, the evade, it was happening again. She swung her sword from a different direction to try to change the outcome. His arm dislocated to catch her sword - again. She examined his moves, his faces, scanning any moment he might show an opening - to no avail. He didn't care about pain or fear. Death flowed through Mercury like blood. She didn't run from him this time she swung again he pulled his shoulder from the wall and evaded her swing and swept her legs with his own. He pulled a hunting knife from his boot while she fell and slammed the blade into her shin. She screamed loudly echoing through the hall. Her vision melted into a sea of swirling red pain. Her screams poured through the base, Czernobog's heart broke. As he sobbed helplessly in the dark like a frightened child. Her leg pinned to the floor he pulled a gun from his jacket and fired a round into her head.


	18. Chapter 6 Side B Part 3 Attempt 4.

"Fuck!" She shouted, she didn't immediately run this time. She stood frozen and paralyzed by the memory of the pain. Which swam effortlessly through her neurons. She was so frightened she felt her mind struggling to rationalize.

When she did find the strength to run - her sprint to the sword felt instinctual. She wanted a gun; something ranged to help her maintain distance. She needed to adapt as quickly as she could to get out safely. This was made more difficult with the extreme aggression of Mercury himself. She didn't understand his powers. Was he a Celestial too? He wasn't according to the others, but she couldn't figure out what he could be; if not a celestial. His aura alone was off putting. I once heard her explain it "Like feeling rusty metal grind itself all over your body and your thoughts.". The initial clash rang out. She turned the dial on the sword hilt, it began glowing a bright red. He dislocated his arm to meet her sword. He tried to sweep her legs but she leapt over the attack and threw a sidekick. Mercury grabbed her leg and using her own momentum swung her 195 degrees slamming her into the wall cracking 3 of her ribs and knocking the wind out of her. She picked up her sword as fast as she could and deflected a stab to her head with great difficulty. She scrambled to her feet in a panic and began fast walking backwards to keep her eyes on Mercury who had vanished in a red flash. She spun on her heels - fast - and sure enough a violent slash rang off of her quick block. He swung in a flurry of blows and with excruciating pain she blocked a few but he vanished from her front and his fist emerged to her right landing a hard left hook to the side of her head. The hit dazed her and knocked her to the ground, her vision a hazy blur. He stood above her but fell to his knees mounting her from the waist up. He was throwing punches furiously back and forth to her head. The blows were so hard she stopped registering pain and fell unconscious. From her unconscious state she felt the cold embrace of death once again. I could describe the gory details of him con-caving her skull. But I think you'll forgive me if I don't.


	19. Chapter 6 Side B Part 3 Attempt 8

She burst from the war room, her mind was clear and free, the only thought she had was "Escape." She was ignoring the death and ignoring the numb sensations she felt from - now closed - wounds. Grabbing the sword, blocking, and evading Mercury as she made her way through the seemingly endless fortress. He was right on her heels, any time she felt like she was making progress Mercury would turn her around and corner her. She had gathered enough evidence over the last few deaths to understand her situation. Caleb was holding her in a time loop to prevent Mercury killing her. This bugged her for several reasons - the leading being - that her life was in his hands. There were several differences between this loop and her freshman year at college. That was 1 whole year repeating but out of order, she also had no memories outside of the final loop where he set her free. This was a brief loop and she remembered each iteration. 

With this knowledge locked down she began trying to take in as much info as she could each loop so she could minimize the loops needed to get out. The problem was how little information she would be able to gather if she made a mistake and got killed. Another problem was Mercury's combat potential. He felt impossible to hide from and impossible to beat in a fight. The despair lingered in the back of her mind but at the same time the wave of despair hit so did a bullet to the side of her head. Kenny died once again.


	20. Chapter 6 Side B Part 3 Attempt 17

Kenny's movements were more confident and smooth but she did her best to act like she was still under Mercury's spell of fear. She kept her eyes open for any sign of Czernobog but she hadn't seen him yet she hadn't gotten far enough to find him. She did have a last resort, that being communication with Caleb. It'd be difficult but it'd be possible to do while she learned. The operative concern was Mercury figuring out before she could send a message, she couldn't risk Caleb being killed. She was almost getting desperate enough to consider communication. She had to get over her resentment to accomplish a common goal.

The good thing about the loop was that she never started out physically tired - and her muscle memory lingered with her mental memory. This allowed her to learn how to fight back against Mercury bit by bit. With her life held in the balance by the Ley Lines limited energy. Plus with the actual threat of excruciating pain and death she was sufficiently motivated to try to learn how to actually fight. Unfortunately in the early attempts her knowledge was so limited that it felt like she was getting nowhere for a very long time.

An unexpected assault from above clashed into her sword Mercury grinning madly. The force of the swing sent shockwaves through Kenny's body. He held the pressure on Kenny practically pinning her feet to the ground staring up at him. Swords scratching together ever so slightly.

"Do you think you can get out of here? That you can beat me?" Mercury boasted

"I have to try. I have to stop you!" Kenny grunted as Mercury pressed harder into her sword. A red aura rippled from the blade - tiny red tendrils licked the flat of Kenny's sword. The pressure on her increased and Kenny's right knee gave way and she fell. She pushed hard off of Mercury's blade pushing him upwards just enough that she rolled behind him. Then she saw a gun sitting beside a dead soldier. She bolted for it while mercury regained his focus. She dove, grabbing the gun. It was a chrono gun that was set to blue; the ability to teleport someone through time. Mercury charged at Kenny. She fired as fast as she could pull the trigger. Mercury evaded the bullets with expert finesse and threw himself sword first into Kenny, the sword slid through her stomach and pinned her to the ground. Grabbing the blade Kenny tried to pull the sword out but all it did was slice through her palms. The rapid aging process began through her stomach. She screamed in agony as the pain burned through her. Blood on her palms she slapped her hand onto the ground and with her hand tried to fight through the pain writing a single letter on the ground.

"C"

And then she died.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Letter 'C' she writes is in Red.


	21. Chapter 6 Side B Part 3 Attempt 18 - 136

“aleb i need help i know you are looping me i dont know how to get out he is too strong i dont think i can do this i still cant find czernobog where is he”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The text in this chapter intentionally has no grammar and is in red.


	22. Chapter 6 Side B Part 3 Attempt 137

Blue letters flashed across Kenny’s mind 

“Turn Left”

She burst from the war room and instead of going right towards the sword and towards her knowledge of the situation. She was being asked to abandon her previous experiences for a new possibility altogether. She would need to start gathering knowledge again from square 1. Czernobog had to be down the left side corridor. She took off in a sprint to the left, analysing her surroundings to her left and right trying to find a weapon; or something to defend herself with. The best way for her to defend herself - to her knowledge - lay behind her. She had fought with Mercury enough to know that it wouldn’t matter. Luckily she had also gained a lot of knowledge about his style and how to fight back regardless. He teleported in front of her and lunged forward; crazed bloodlust in his eyes. She took a steep side step to evade. Mercury flew past her and Kenny launched a kick upwards square into his stomach, toes pointed upward towards his solar plexus. Mercury blocked with a forearm and teleported away. She quickly continued her sprint but was interrupted by a reappearance of Mercury who was slashing madly at her. Kenny danced around his blade while she made her way toward the end of the hall. Her footwork felt near flawless until she accidentally stepped on a leg of a dead soldier - which staggered her considerably. Falling to the floor Mercury quickly flashed above her and fell sword first into her skull.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'Turn left' is in blue


	23. Chapter 6 Side B Part 3 Attempt 280 - 288

Nothing was working, and the looping was starting to wear on Kenny as she pushed time and time again to get past Mercury: towards Czernobog. But she wasn’t fast enough to catch up to Czernobog with Mercury on her ass the entire time. She had begun to notice that Mercury got little pleasure from playing with his food. All of his euphoric reactions came from the kill itself. The longer that Kenny evaded his attacks the angrier and more vicious he got, the more he became consumed by his corruption. The more evil that filled his aura. However the longer the fight continued the greater his euphoria. The challenge only prolongs his lust for bloodshed. He was subhuman to Kenny. The pure definition of malignant. She still had no luck finding a new weapon to the left but at least she was getting a decent evade game going off of Mercury. She didn’t need a ton of foresight to be able to evade his attacks now. She was beginning to be able to read him. He was still much wilder and angrier than she could have ever imagined. The more furious he became at his inability to slay her the more erratic his attacks and teleportations beccame. It didn’t stop him from killing her over and over and over again. Kenny had been keeping track of her deaths at one point, but had soon lost track. She needed more help, she needed a weapon. 

“Weapon?”

By 288 she got a response. “Second door on the right.” She made her way to the door. Inside was a sword lodged in the skull of an armless soldier. Kenny jumped towards it, she felt Mercury hot on her back as she ripped the sword from the wall the force made her arm reel backwards which luckily clashed into Mercury’s sneak attack throwing him backwards. This was her chance. With both hands on the blade she charged plunging the blade deep into Mercury's sternum.

Kenny had finally got Mercury. The sword dripped blood, thick and dark, from his back. He stopped for a moment. His eyes drifted down at Kenny. Who had begun to cry from exhaustion and relief. Her brain reacted to the fear she had been bottling since the loops had begun. Mercury put his hand on Kenny’s head kindly in a strange form of praise and comfort...

“Why are you crying?” he asked her softly. “You should be proud, you’ve landed a blow on me.” blood spurt from his mouth as he spoke. His internal organs were badly damaged. She twisted the blade in response. “You are terrified, like a wounded rabbit in the eyes of a hungry snake.”

“I’m going to make sure you don’t leave this base. You are too dangerous.” Kenny quickly wiped her tears away and pulled the blade from Mercury who then fell onto his knees. She looked down on him, “How do I stop the Chrono Illuminati?”

He laughed at her, the laugh started small. But grew hardy and excited. Czernobog entered the room hearing the laughter. 

“You wounded him?” Czernobog exclaimed.

“No thanks to you.” She spat bitterly.

“I’m sorry.” Czernobog lowered his head in embarrassment.

“He got the word right.” Mercury broke from his laughter. “I’m wounded… not dead.” Kenny quickly swung the sword furiously. Her fear rose with each millimeter of movement. Her fear peaked at an all time high when mercury caught her sword with a bare hand. His blood dripped down the blade. She had suddenly realised she hadn’t activated the blades time properties; it was too late. Or maybe she had never had a chance at all. She looked down at the stomach wound where she had stabbed him. When suddenly a red and black tendril ripped itself from inside his stomach, out into full view of his prey. It whipped violently around the room knocking Czernobog through the concrete walls creating a collapse of sorts. They were separated again. The tendril was pulsating and rippling like its own organism moving independently of Mercury’s will. Its head had 4 gripping sharp claws that twitched and flickered ominously. 

It lunged fast and violently, Kenny jumped out of the way rolling to keep momentum as Mercury stood and launched himself towards her. The claws ripped through the concrete walls throwing massive chunks of rock into the air and around Kenny, she tried to get out of the way but between Mercury, the tendril, and the flying rock she was pinned into a corner. She ran up a wall directly in front of her and kicked off of the near wall to her right: leaping over Mercury. The tendril snapped together and slammed into the wall she had run across. Now in front of the door she bolted out of the room back into the hallway.

“I need to kill him! I can’t let him leave!” she thought. 

Mercury, hot on her heels, flashed in front of her the tendril snapping angrily and it attacked she aimed her blade directly in front of it. This caused it to slam violently into the tip of the blade. Mercury, grimacing in pain as it happened. The force pushed Kenny backward a distance but ultimately didn’t harm her. She sliced up the pulsing flesh cutting the tendril as she went. Mercury stood in place prepared for her to attack him next. She pulled her blade from the tendril and stabbed at him. He deflected her blow with tremendous force staggering her. She fell backwards landing hard on her back. Quickly he flipped the blade in his hand and slammed it down into the ground through her left thigh. Her back facing the floor she was completely vulnerable. And the direction of the blade wouldn’t allow for her to cut herself free. She was ultimately stuck. She got too aggressive. And knew she would pay the price for it. 

He pulled the dead tendril back into his body. Where the wound she left was now completely healed. 

“It’s hopeless for you to think that you will be able to kill me,” he mocked. “You are too soft. You aren’t ready to face the consequences of killing me.”

“I’d do anything to stop you from ending this timeline.” She winced as she put a hand on the blade holding her to the ground.

“Would you give me the power of the Yggdrasil?”

Kenny’s eyes widened in fear “You want to kill the Yggdrasil?”

“It’s unlimited power, it’s proof I’m the best in this universe.”

“Isn’t the Yggdrasil dead?”

“Not quite. There is always one. It’s possible to permanently kill it but it would obliterate the universe itself. If I kill the current Yggdrasil then I’d become the god of this universe.”

“You would stop this… if you become the Yggdrasil?”

“I guarantee it.”

Kenny stopped and thought about it. “I don’t know if I can beat him. Is there any other way?”

“I don’t know where it is.” She admitted. 

“Then I guess we can’t make a deal kid… sorry. But this is the end of your timeline.” Mercury pulled his gun out and placed the barrel against her head.

“Wait” she interrupted, “Why are you telling me all of this? You’ve never spoken to me before now? Why are you suddenly so willing to tell me what you want?”

“Before?” he pondered momentarily and smiled. “I’m talking to you because I have a fond respect for you. You’ve managed to stab me. If I’d been any one else you might have actually been able to kill me. Now you answer a question for me?”

“What?” She turned her head to look up the barrel of the gun.

“How many times have I killed you?” he smiled brightly.

“You noticed?”

“You slipped up. You said I’ve never spoken to you before, considering this is our first meeting there is only one conclusion. You have been looping every time I kill you. So how many times?”

“I don’t know, I lost count somewhere in the hundreds.”

“I understand.”

“This plan of yours… it’s all a ruse, isn’t it. You just want the Yggdrasil to come out of hiding to stop you.”

“Bingo!” He placed one finger on his nose.

“That’s why we can’t win… You are draining the Yggdrasil of its power. So that you can have the power to kill them when they get desperate enough.”

“You are a smart one. Where did the Stars find you?”

Kenny put every ounce of her strength into pulling the sword out of her leg she strained and screamed in pain as she struggled against the concrete holding the sword fast. She pushed her leg against the hilt for extra pulling strength. This resulted in the blade sliding down her leg slowly but slightly opening the cut wider and wider. Mercury simply watched - her determination to stop him fascinated him. She felt the concrete give and suddenly the blade slipped loose and she stood. Standing was slow and painful but she stood nonetheless.

“Mercury.” she staggered from the loss of blood as she pulled the sword out from her leg, her skin was pale and she was nauseous she was just too unwilling to give up. “I’m going to stop you. End of story. I won’t give you the Yggdrasil, I won’t let you end the timeline, I won't stop. I’ll keep looping until you are dead at my feet I don't give a damn.”

“You’ll lose your mind in the process. Are you willing to accept that?”

“I do.”

“Then let the games begin. For real this time. Yeah?” Then he fired a bullet between Kenny’s eyes.

Then the battle of attrition began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'Weapon?' is in red  
> 'Second door on the right.' Is in blue


	24. Chapter 6 Side B Part 3 Attempt 12484

In real time several months had passed for Kenny, her eyes had grown dull and empty, her spirit crushed from the hopelessness. She had grown into someone who could withstand pain, she was able to react to an attack at the blink of an eye. At this point she was at least almost Mercury’s equal. She had stopped worrying about things; she knew about ways she could exploit her knowledge of these next moments. But it didn’t matter. She knew he would kill her again. She had resolved that if she locked him here forever then time could continue. She had given up. This was it. This was her breaking point. Caleb knew it as well. Even Mercury knew, though at the beginning of each run he would forget, he would catch on quicker and quicker as she grew mentally unresponsive except to attack. 

All that mattered now was the battle. The impossible battle. But this was it. This was the end. She fought with every last ounce of her strength. She could hit Mercury as much as she wanted now. It didn’t stop his tendrils from growing out of his flesh. His blood reacted like a hydra. Any physical damage increased her plight. It got to a point that Mercury could go all out in a full corruptive state. His skin grey and crackling, his blows many times more powerful than ever before. It didn’t matter - Kenny could match him. She spent no time thinking about the world outside this fight. The fight drew to a close when Mercury began intentionally losing limbs to grow violent tendrils, it wouldn’t matter if he would grow limbs back over time. He didn’t care. This was it. This was the end of them. Mercury felt the rush of fighting a foe equal to him in every way. This gave him excitement for his final battle with the Yggdrasil. If a human could grow to this level from fighting him what would it be like to kill the Yggdrasil after all of these years. 

Kenny couldn’t immobilize him. No matter how much flesh she cut away he was impossible to kill. If she was going to kill him she would need to completely eradicate him on a cellular level but she didn’t have the tools to do such a thing. Even in a military base she didn’t know where she would be able to find the equipment for such a task. And up until a few thousand attempts ago she was thoroughly looking. It didn't matter, she found nothing.

She would occasionally run into Czernobog who looked at her with sad pained eyes usually before he was knocked into a different part of the base still not willing to help her fight against Mercury. She resented him. She hated him. She hated everything.   
Suddenly something changed. Her fight with Mercury was predictable as ever. But something changed. A spark? No.. a light? It was a distraction nonetheless it caught Kenny off guard. That “Something”... it was Caleb. She felt it, she felt his presence suddenly. Mercury had her pinned against the wall by several tendrils. As Mercury went for the final blow, both Czernobog and Caleb flashed into her view. Suddenly her emotions all rushed into her head. The good, the bad, all that she had been missing for so long. Caleb appeared directly in front of her mid lunge. Mercury ran Caleb through along with Kenny. His back pressed firmly to her chest. Suddenly her eyes burst with everything she hadn’t been able to feel and she screamed.

The scream echoed through the base, it was a scream of agony, and rage, and sorrow, and hopelessness. Caleb was now on the brink of death. But… it wasn’t because of the blade. No… it seemed that Mercury didn’t even notice Caleb. He was simply pinned to Kenny.

“Why.” she sobbed. “Why are you here Caleb? If you die… I can’t...” tears were flowing like rivers, her mind was an irrational mess of incomprehensible emotions. 

“I can only loop you this last time… when I do… just leave the base. Get as far away as you can.”

“Why?”

“Because this last loop will drain the root completely. The town nearby and this base will die in its entirety. Mercury will leave of his own accord. You did it. You won.”

“How is that a win GOD DAMN IT CALEB, NO YOU CAN'T ALL OF THOSE PEOPLE WILL DIE!”

“I know… But it’s the only choice we have. If you want to fix everything you need to live. He won't stop until we drain the root… heh.” He turned his head to look at Kenny, his face was old and decrepit, he used up every ounce of power he had for this fight. He gave everything he had. “It’s funny, for once... I wish I had more time.” He smiled weakly and placed a hand on Kenny’s face. “You’ll be okay. You have everything you need to save the world.”

“Caleb PLEASE. We can think of something I can hold him off. Don’t do this. We have options don’t we?”

“No… this is it. I have to go now. And you need to save the world. Don’t give up yet. You’ll be the light the world needs.”

Suddenly the world grew dim.

“I love you Kenny. Now go save everyone.”

And then Kenny Died.


	25. Chapter 6 Side B Part 3 Attempt 12485

Kenny burst from the war room and stopped. Caleb was sitting calmly on the ground. His eyes were completely void of color. Mercury exit the war room beside Kenny and looked down at the blonde haired kid decaying slowly before their eyes.

“He was in the Yggdrasil root.” Kenny explained to Mercury. “He emptied it to obliterate everything in this area. The root is falling. We should pick up our fight another day.” she said calmly.

Mercury smiled. “I see, that was your plan. You looped our fight until I’d be forced into surrender.”

“Not my plan.” she corrected. “His.” 

Mercury slowly began walking out of the base. “I guess I should leave and live to fight another day.”  
“Yeah. I guess so.” Kenny picked up Caleb's lifeless and weightless body. She carried him away. With no energy left he was visible to the world for the first time since he was a child. In a way it was poetic to her. She carried him out of the base slowly - solemnly. She met up with Czernobog outside the base. 

“What happened?” Czernobog asked.

Kenny looked up. She saw the cataclysm in the sky and placed Caleb in Czernobog’s arms. “He deserves a proper burial. Get in the car. I’ll explain later. We need to leave. Ash and Bielebog will have to meet us outside the range of the blast.”

Czerobog looked up and saw the same thing she did. He nodded. “The root here is empty, isn't it.”

Kenny nodded. She looked down at her phone to dial Ash, but she couldn’t remember her phone’s password. She didn’t know Ash’s phone number anymore.

“I hope you see it. I don’t have time to save you.” she thought.

They got in the car they had driven in with, and they left.


	26. Chapter 6 Side C: The Least of Their Worries.

An explanation is likely needed to explain how everyone else experienced the loop that Kenny experienced. Simply put, they experienced nothing. The last loop is the timeline everyone else is currently experiencing. And at this moment unbeknownst to them a cataclysm will soon take place all around them.

Ash and Kempachi were still planning to over take the military attack on the city to save the civilians, while Bielebog was guarding the library. Which now had roughly 5 other occupants. But 3 of the other occupants were armed. This gave Biel enough confidence to leave the library in their mildly capable hands. He was the first person to notice; He went outside to smoke, and upon a deep exhale he looked up. The fire in the sky was so bright and vivid, he knew what was coming. A meteor shower, a big one, there were hundreds of flaming balls hurtling towards them. He dropped his joint and pulled Celeste out of the void. Turning on his heel he made a point to make sure everyone knew they had to get out as fast as possible. Once they went outside they understood the problem. He pulled out his phone and dialed Czernobog.

//BBBBBBBBBBBRRRRRRUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN//

*Click*

“Czernobog here!” Czernobog answered.

“Bro, we have a problem, What the fuck happened?”

“The Root holding this area up just emptied completely, Caleb is dead. And that’s not the least of our worries.”

“What do you mean?”

“We know Mercury’s plan. We need to regroup. Now. we are headed West GET OUT OF BRANSON NOW!”

“We have problems on our end too, how much time do we have?”

“15 minutes before the first meteor hits. But when it does the others will hit within 45 seconds. This is intended to be a total extinction of this area. And while you are at it tell Ash to call Kenny. She needs to know her phone password.”

“Why is that a fucking priority?”

“Kenny was in constant combat with Mercury for several months, she doesn't remember things that weren’t relevant to her personal survival.”

“Jesus, is she okay?”

"I'd be inappropriate to speak on her behalf. However I believe the answer is a firm no. I don't sense a single emotion from her."

"Fuck. This is bad."

“We are aware.”

“What should We do about civilians?”

“There isn’t time you know that. Ash will disagree. Disable her if you can’t get her to comply.” Kenny overheard Czernobogs statement and shouted her own retort “Like Hell You Will!”

"She is mad now." Czernobog unhelpfully chimed.

“I’ll figure something out.” Biel answered. “Talk to you soon.”

Bielebog hung up, and looked at the few people who had managed to get to the library.

“Find a car and get out of town now. Don’t take roads, it doesn’t matter” he pointed at the meteor shower. “That, Doesn’t give a fuck about the laws of the road, or who your family is, get in a car and leave. I don’t care where you go or who you talk to. The government will help, bring survivors back together just stay safe and get the fuck out.”

They all promptly scrambled to get in a vehicle. Biel didn’t stick around to find out if they managed to do it. He didn’t care, he had to find Kempachi and Ash.

***********************

Ash made her way closer to the source of the fire. Kempachi was following close behind on the roof-tops. She felt her phone vibrating in her pocket, she took a quick glance: Bielebog. She looked at the distance between her and the main military ‘encampment’. After risk assessment she answered the call.

“Yeah?” she asked.

“Are you outside?” he asked

“Yeah why?”

“Look up.”

She did, her own reaction was something akin to immediate panic. The sky looked like a bright wall of flame. 

“Biel what is that?”

“A cataclysmic meteor shower. We have less than 15 minutes to get out of range or we will all die do you understand?”

“I do.”

“Find a car, abandon the mission, and run west we will regroup once we have all survived this.”

“But what about the people?”

“They are all going to die regardless, the risk isn’t worth it. You need to get out. Hell leave Kempachi for all I care you need to get going.”

Ash looked at the source of the Fire. A school district building and a few other mainline businesses with parking lots.

“Biel, I think I can get everyone out.”

“If you waste ANY time on this you won’t have enough time to get out yourself.”

“I can do this Biel you gotta trust me.”

“This isn’t a matter of trust I'm sure you could - but the problem is time, which I don’t have enough of to argue with you about this shit.”

She stomped a foot. “Damn you. I’m going to try, if I can’t get anyone to listen in 5 minutes then i’ll book it out. Kempachi will make sure I get out.”

“You don’t understand how much land this is going to hit.”

“I do understand, I'll go 200 miles per hour if I have to.”

There was a brief silence. “I knew you’d try to pull this shit. Fucking do what you want but know Kenny fucking needs you bad right now.”

“What happened?”

“I guess you’ll need to survive to find out.”

Bielebog hung up.

Ash waved Kempachi down. He quickly slid down to the ground from a pipe. “What’s up?”

“Meteor shower it’s cataclysmic, we have 15 minutes, here is the plan: this is a school district, meaning there’s going to be like 80 buses here that can transport civilians. Inside the building will be the keys, they will need to fend for themselves but we need to warn them at the least.”

“Okay, and what do you want me to do?”

“2 things, inside one of these garage parking lots there is going to be a sports car. I need you to find one. And bring it down here. And while you do that I need you to make sure I don’t die when I talk to the military guys.”

“Okay look I can’t drive I don’t know shit about cars. I’ve been in the woods for 30 years.”

“Take my phone and look up how to Hotwire a car.” She unlocked her phone and quickly turned off the password so he could use it freely. Kempachi started blankly for a second completely out of his depth then he suddenly got an idea. “Wait. I have an idea?” he said. Grabbing the phone he quickly clicked on the Google sidebar and typed the words “Casper’s Robbin’ Services!” and clicked on the first result. 

A web page pulled up and all that was visible was a phone number with each number in a different font. He clicked the number. It rang but with each passing second tension gathered in Kempachi’s chest.

*click*

“Caspers’ what can I steal for you today?”

“Casper, it’s Kempachi I need that back up.”

“Cool, are we still in town?”

“Yeah, I need a sports car to the School district in 5 minutes.”

“Too easy. Gimme something else.”

“Okay the fastest car in the city in 5 mintutes NOW! There is a meteor shower coming.”

“Nice, cool see you in five, better be there!”

*Click*

Ash looked at Kempachi “You ordered a car?”

“Yeah he will make sure it gets here, just trust me now let's get the civilians settled.”

They quickly sprinted over to the nearest group of people which happened to be part of the Military squad invading the town. They immediately started shouting and pointing guns at them. Kempachi was quick to draw an arrow but Ash put her hands up and started waving in surrender. She got down on her knees and put her hands on her head. Kempachi didn’t do that but at least sheathed his arrow and re-harnessed his bow to his back. The soldiers surrounded them quickly, their time was growing more and more tight. One soldier stepped forward while the others either grabbed Ash and Kempachi.

“State your name!” The soldier said, she was a girl, roughly mid, thirties grizzled and angry. 

“Ash, and this is Kempachi. Look upwards for me.” Ash said quickly, by her count she still had 3 minutes left.

A few of them looked up, not all of them. But enough of them.

“That is going to hit us in 10 minutes. You need to call a retreat and get out of town. Any terrorists you are looking for will die in the Meteor Shower, you all need to signal a retreat now.”

The soldier who had addressed them looked up, and saw the flames. “Jesus, okay troops radio your squads send the message signal the retreat, You two are coming with us.”

“I’m afraid not.” Kempachi explained.

“That’s not a suggestion.” She ordered.

Kempachi grabbed the soldier holding him down and tripped him with a leg sweep. Suddenly he had a bulky hunting knife to the soldier’s throat. “I said we won’t be coming with, and your guns won’t be fast enough to stop me from killing at least 80% of the soldiers you have us surrounded with. So you’ll leave and save yourself. Human preservation and all. Trust me it’s not worth it and you are running out of time arguing with me.”

The soldier sighed loudly. “Fuck it, pack up lets go.” They released Ash and Kempachi released his own hostage. They went their separate ways. 2 minutes: all she had to do was warn one civilian who could tell the rest. Luckily this was in her favor. Most of the civ’s who had been firing back had noticed the retreat and began searching for the reason. A few had very quickly noticed the reason for the mass retreat had begun to wave their own retreat. The others however, were much more chaotic.Still scared and running around in a scrambled panic. Ash grabbed a megaphone that had been dropped by the soldiers. They had been using them to tell people to cease fire and to surrender etcetera. 

“EVERYONE WHO IS IN THE VICINITY THERE ARE SCHOOL BUSES AND KEYS TO THE BUSES, PACK AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU CAN INTO THE BUSES AS FAST AS YOU CAN AND RUN. YOU HAVE 10 MINUTES TO GET OUT OF RANGE SPREAD THE WORD.”

Surprisingly this had been heard by most of the civilian crowd outside, they quickly began running more orderly toward the buses while a few people broke into the district themselves to get the keys. That was when Casper arrived with their own vehicle. 

“Kempachi? You need a ride?” Ash took note that the man behind the wheel looked remarkably like Bielebog. But vocally sounded nothing like him. It caught her off guard. But the semantics didn’t matter. They got in the car. 

“Hey who’s the goth?” Casper asked.

“I’m not Gothic, I’m Ash can we just fucking GO please!”

“Testy!” Casper mocked.

“Dude we have an emergency!” Kempachi reminded him.

“I got it, don’t worry.” Casper shifted gears and floored it, the sudden rush went straight to Ash’s stomach. Ash took note of Casper’s constant change in voice. 

“Who’s your friend Kempachi” Ash managed to speak, trying to distract herself from all of the things going on.

“This is Casper, The Capricorn.” Kempachi waved his hands dramatically.

“I take it this girl already is chill with the whole mystical bullshit shtick?” Casper made a wide turn, keeping his eyes relatively stuck in front of him.

“Yeah, I’ve been hanging out with a lot of you recently.” She admitted.

“Cool! I’m a Shapeshifter. A Super Shapeshifter!”

“A Super Shapeshifter?” Ash recalled his voice changes and it was more clear to her what made him more unique as a shapeshifter.

“Just go with it, he is good at what he does.” Kempachi interrupted.

“So where are we going?” Casper asked

“West!” Ash remarked and then turned around to look for other people fleeing. The buses of people had been running in various directions but the civilians had in fact managed to get the message that they needed to run. Ash couldn’t worry about them though. She had to worry about herself, and Kenny. Thinking about Kenny reminded her to call. 

The phone rang  
*Click*

“Hey...” a cold soft Kenny answered the phone.

“Kenny? Are you alright? I’m safe we got everyone to evacuate, the military left… This meteor shower, this wasn’t supposed to happen was it?”

“Ash, I’m sorry. There’s too much going on… Do you know my phone password?”

Ash spent some time recounting Kenny’s password for her phone and for her google account which had access to the rest of her web passwords. Getting Kenny reconnecting to the world was a decent step in the right direction, but Kenny was in bad shape. Her emotional deterioration was clear to both of them. Kenny was having a difficult time trying to regain her affections for the girl on the other end of the phone. Kenny still hadn't explained what had happened at the base. She didn't want to think about the last few months, all of her deaths. She was flipping wildly between having no emotions and too many and she didn’t know how to communicate what was going on, or how Ash could help. 

Ash didn’t ask too many questions she could tell in her voice that Kenny wasn’t okay. After some light conversation the drive got extremely bumpy for Ash.

The first meteor finally hit. The sound waves alone from the clashing of burning rock was deafening as they slammed into the ground. Wind and heat clashed together violently and pushed their car forward faster. Meteors began falling all around them.

“ASH!” Kenny yelled over the phone. “Czernobog they aren’t out of range!”

A meteor hit a bit too close to them and launched their vehicle into the air. It landed but not without damage, Casper was doing everything in his power to keep the car under control and steer through the falling rocks. Debris flew and smashed dents into their car hot fire flicked against the metal. Ash ducked her head when a chuck of rock blew through the side window. 

When suddenly the rocks stopped falling, the fire calmed and their car burst through the dust and debris. Finally out of the storm. Ash imagined the civilians who were in much slower vehicles, and were much later in leaving. She tried not to think about how many could have survived it. She tried her best. But coming that close to death herself sent a wave of emotion through her and she began to cry. 

Once she calmed down she put the phone to her ear.

“Kenny. Can we actually stop this from happening?” she huffed the words out slowly.

“Ash, if I’m honest. I don’t think we can.”

Kenny knew how strong Mercury was alone, and he had an army. Ash knew the devastation that would cycle through the timeline if Mercury would manage to drain all of the Ley Lines. As far as they could sense. This was the end for them. This was the end of the world. There was nothing any of them could do to stop it.

Now they had proof they couldn’t stop it.

“Mercury will kill us all in an instant if given the chance, he doesn’t care about any of this. He doesn’t care about monologuing or his plan. He just wants to become god. He is going to get it.” Kenny explained mournfully. She looked back to Calebs’ lifeless body. “Caleb is dead, Mercury killed him.”

“How is that even… oh… the meteor shower…” Ash was conflicted on how she felt. She had never met Caleb. Kenny seemed to hate him but at this moment it sounded like Kenny was actually really sad about it.

“He was in the root when he emptied it. He saved my life. I’m really really confused.” Kenny said.

“It’s okay we can figure everything out once we regroup.” Ash looked at Kempachi who was trying to get dirt and glass out of his hair.

“Where do we want to meet?”

******************************

They all gathered at a safe house Bielebog owned in Topeka, Kansas. It was a big spacious house, filled with plenty of guns, drugs, and beds for everyone. How they all arrived and entered the building is important for context.

First Czernobog and Kenny arrived, they placed Caleb on a bed in a group room. Kenny made her way immediately to a personal room to get space. Bielebog arrived shortly after and explained to Czernobog that Kempachi would be arriving with Ash. Czernobog relayed his understanding in small uncomfortable nods. Ash entered the house, greeted the twins and made her way to Kenny’s room, Kempachi and Casper entered the house shortly after Ash disappeared. This led to a situation where Kenny had only made contact with Ash and Czernobog and while Bielebog knew Kenny was there he made no attempt to introduce her to Kempachi or Casper.

“Casper, it’s been a long time.” Czernobog tilted his head in curiocity. “Where have you been hiding all these years?”

“Oh you know here and there. Hiding is kinda my specialty.” Casper rubbed his hair which was currently a fluffy deep grey.

“Hey don’t forget about me!” Kempachi chimed in.

“Yeah about you. Can we cut the shit?” Bielebog pointed Celeste at Kempachi.

“I’m not entirely sure I catch your drift?” Kem scratched the top of his head exaggeratedly.

“Quit fucking playing stupid. What happened to Æsir?” Bielebog didn’t move an inch.

“What makes you think Kempachi knows shit about it?” Casper used Bielebog's own voice to mock him.

“Shut it Casper! Just cause the fucking Trickster has your back Kempachi doesn’t mean shit. He is just as untrustworthy as you are. Where is she!” Biel jabbed Kempachi in the chest with Celeste harshly.

“How ‘bout you fuck off Bielebog. I was with her long enough to know none of you even came to fucking visit. She was alone, I was there for her, so don’t you fucking come at ME with your guilty ass bullshit and pointing fingers. I loved her more than ANYTHING you fucking WORTHLESS GAS HEAD. So take your fucking ass outta here because you didn’t care about her until she was already gone.” Kempachi pushed Bielebog away from him. Which made Bielebog angry.

Biel pulled his gun and fired two rounds at Kempachi who cartwheeled out of the way on one arm. Using his free arm to draw an arrow. Quickly firing it as his feet hit the ground. The arrow flew just barely past Biel who had dodged just enough to not get hit in the eye. Bielebog fired 2 more shots and closed distance swinging with celeste at the evading Kempachi. Kem was bouncing off the walls to get out of range of Bielebog. Kempachi was firing arrows left and right, all on target, but Bielebog was fast enough to knock the arrows out of the air or simply get out of the way. After cornering Kem, Bielebog, swung low at his kneecap to disable him. Kem leapt over the swing and pulled a throwing knife from his boot. The knife nearly hit bielebog in the face but Biel guarded against the surprise attack with his forearm which accepted the blade, blood splashing against Kempachi who was a bit too close for comfort. Kem grabbed his knife from Biels’ arm swiftly and with a spin produced four more from his sleeve. Biel took several steps back to get more time to react to the knives, but space was exactly what Kempachi wanted. Kempachi threw three of his knives which were blocked by Celeste. Kepachi was relentless, jumping in the air and relaunching two of those knives with kicks. This caused one knife to land squarely in Bielebog’s right shoulder joint making movement in his right arm painful and near impossible without further damage. With Biel on the defense now Kempachi threw his last three knives which had to be dodged as opposed to deflected. But in dodging he took his eyes off of Kempachi who fired two arrows in quick succession. One pierced Bielebog in the chest the other a direct shot to the throat. Kempachi charged at Bielebog with another arrow loaded into his bow, once fired it hit the dazed and breathless Bielebog in the left elbow joint making it difficult to lift his left hand to remove the arrows and knife. Kempachi kicked Bielebog into the wall. And pulled his hunting knife from inside his trenchcoat, holding the knife directly up to Bielebog’s eye Kempachi issued his final warning.

“I’m not going to fuck around with you, I don’t care that you're immortal. You aren’t in charge of me. I’m going to find the Yggdrasil and you can do what you’ve always done. Sit on your drug addicted ass, and stay the FUCK out of my way! Have I made myself transparently clear?!”

Bielebog looked Kempachi in his cold angry eyes. “You fell in love with her? You didn’t just love her you were IN love with her.”

“What’s your point?”

“Kenny is your kid isn’t she?”

Kempachi pressed the tip of the knife to Bielebogs’ eyebrow drawing blood.

“Where the fuck is my daughter?”

End of Act 2.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, Act 2 is technically only 2 chapters long. For....... obvious reasons.
> 
> I feel like i should have more to say about this... Calebs death was something i'd planned since i started writing this. I wanted to know what would become of their relationship. I wanted to know if caleb still had the capacity to do something selfless. despite this however it's still Kenny's decision to forgive him. You'll need to keep reading to find out where she stands now that he is gone and she is free of him.


	27. Chapter 7: There The Fuck Is His Daughter!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Act 3: Recovery, and Other Short Stories You Can Tell Your Friends to Avoid Thinking About How Absolutely Nothing Good is About to Happen.

It was the dawn of a new day. August 5th, several days after the Cataclysm at Brandson. Kenny was asleep with Ash. Kempachi was keeping watch at the foot of the stairs leading up to the bedrooms, flipping a knife in his hand. Bielebog was asleep in one of the downstairs beds. Casper and Czernobog had made their way into a section of the Safehouse that contained a Lab. The Lab was intended to be used for making narcotics. However Casper was in possession of a weapon that Mercury had used pretty heavily on July 29th. They were examining it with pretty significant results. 

They had determined that Mercury’s body was consistent with a corrosive element. The element they couldn’t identify but they understood a little more about his actual abilities. Abilities they had yet to personally witness, but they had Kenny for that; if she ever got out of bed that is. Czernobog had noticed her lack of empathy or sympathy and was concerned for her total well being. He’d need to move to more forceful measures if Ash couldn’t get through to her. Ash didn’t want Czernobog getting into her head, any emotion he forced to the surface might not be actually genuine. “We would be forcing her to move on from the trauma. She needs to get better in her own time.” Time however was not on their side. Though to be completely fair it was moot, the world wasn’t ending any slower or quicker with them hiding out for a few days. Kenny would need to time travel back to July 29th for a few more days. Ash speculated that things had worked out enough that she was able to be herself when she time traveled so she wasn’t too concerned. Kenny had regained her comfort and affinity for Ash and had been clinging to her the last few days. Ash would emerge for a few hours a day to update people and to bring Kenny food and electrolytes. 

Now, I’ve avoided the conclusion to Bielebog and Kempachi’s feud long enough. Last we left off, it was just past 2 AM on August 2nd. Kempachi has won the fight, but Bielebog learned the truth. 

“Kenny, Pssh she is upstairs in bed.” Bielebog practically spat the words at him.

“She is here? I want to see her!” Kempachi slammed Bielebog into the wall again.

“I dare you to go in there. Last I’d heard she spent months being brutally murdered by our main fuck boy Mercury in a time loop.” Bielebog pushed his head away from the wall, allowing Kempachi’s knife to penetrate the skin above his eyelid. A small stream of blood flowed down into Bielebog’s eye.

*intimidation 16 + 8 modifier*

“Great job! You Stars are doing a wonderful job of keeping the Yggdrasil safe: LIKE ALWAYS!” Kempachi’s sarcastic jab put enough fuel in Bielebog to make him grind his teeth in rage.

“We didn’t know. CLEARLY! Or we would have kept a closer eye on her.”

“Oh like that super close eye you kept over Æsir?”

Bielebog threw a heavy push kick into Kempachi’s sternum. Kempachi fell hard onto his back. Bielebog quickly stomped on Kempachis’ shoulder instantly dislocating it. He yelped in pain. 

Bielebog knelt over Kempachi, pulling the knives from his elbow and shoulder. Without the metal shifting against his bones he furiously began throwing punches left and right into Kem’s jaw and cheekbones.

“YOU DON’T GET TO FUCKING TELL ME ABOUT MY RELATIONSHIP WITH ÆSIR!”

Kem pulled another knife from his sleeve with his non-dislocated left arm and shoved the knife deep into the side of Bielebog’s skull which very greatly stunned him. Kempachi kicked Bielebog off of him and with a spinning roundhouse to the hilt of the knife. Bielebog fell to the ground, he lay completely still for a few moments while Kempachi caught his breath. "Still" was just what Biel needed as his flesh pushed the blade out of his skull and once completely healed only moments later.

“I’m fucking done fighting with you Bielebog. I don’t care how you felt about Æsir. You abandoned her.”

“DON’T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT!” Bielebog screamed as he picked himself up off the floor. “I KNOW I ABANDONED HER, A LOT OF US DID. IT WAS HER JOB TO TELL US IF THERE WAS A PROBLEM AND THERE NEVER WAS! WE FELL AWAY AFTER A FEW HUNDRED YEARS.” Bielebog took a deep breath. “I still loved her. I still wanted to be there for her. I thought I’d get the chance when she called us. She never did. She abandoned us just as much as we abandoned her.” Bielebog wiped his face. “It doesn’t excuse that we didn’t visit her. That we never were just casual. But we had been friends for thousands of years. What was two decades of silence to thousands of years of being there.”

Kempachi sat on a bed a small distance from Bielebog. “She said that she was going to die in 2023. That she didn’t have the power to stop what was coming.”

“She knew about Mercury?” Czernobog chimed in.

“I guess so, she never gave me any details about the threat. Just that she had a near 0 chance of stopping it. And even if she survived, there would be something even bigger coming after that.”

“Something bigger?” Czernobog stood at attention, his interest sharply peaking. “What could be so bad that the Yggdrasil would need to produce an Heir?”

“Like I said she never told me. I assume it has to do with locking a future. If she told me about it, then the bad thing would have to happen that way.” Kempachi began collecting his projectiles and knives and stashing them.

“She couldn’t warn us because it would have confirmed the end.” Bielebog stood finally understanding the big picture. “So now that we know Kenny is for sure the Yggdrasil, and that she opened the gate to the forest. She can come into her powers.”

“In theory, but she doesn’t have enough time to figure out how to use them.” Czernobog added.

“Not entirely.” Biel responded. “She can go toe to toe with Mercury now as a plain run-of-the-mill human, she literally trained to fight him.”

“I can get her to the forest if she will go with me, it’ll give her the edge she needs against him!” Kempachi clapped his hands dramatically loud.

“Even with the Yggdrasil’s extra power how do we know she will be able to overpower him?” Czernobog asked

“Well I might be able to help on that front.” Casper who had been relatively quiet spoke up. “I have one of Mercury’s guns, if we examine it we might get some hints as to what his powers are.”

“Okay, so this is the plan? Prep and hope Kenny can take him? Even if she beats him how can we ensure the destruction of the Chrono weapons?” Biel began lightly pacing around the room.

Kempachi raised his hand. Bielebog blinked uncomfortably at him, while Czernobog literally began scratching his head. Casper was the only one with the gumption to call on Kempachi.

“Kenny was with him for a while, right? If he talked to her at any point then she might know more about his operation.” 

“It’s possible, we need to make sure she recovers quickly enough that we can plan this better.” Bielebog sighed. “Okay, let’s get to bed. This shit’s not gonna get done tonight. Might as well crash.”

Everyone grumbled, it had been a long day, an emotional day. Last thing they needed was to be fighting exhaustion too.

*******************

Back on August 5th. Ash and Kenny were waking up. Ash had been awake for a bit, seeing Kenny sleep was proof to her that her partner was still there. Kenny had been actually getting better over the last few days; she was mostly mad at Czernobog at this point but would get flashes when she slept of times she remembered dying. The nightmares woke her up in a panicked state frequently enough Ash was worried about how much rest she was getting. Ash was also trying to prevent Czernobog from seeing Kenny, her biggest worry was that Kenny wanted to kill him.

When Kenny herself woke up she stood up and stretched exaggeratedly. She was still grim faced but she appeared to have had enough waiting around. As she went for the door Ash spoke up.

“Hey, you feeling better today?”

“Better or not we have a job to do. I need to address an issue with Czernobog.” Kenny reached for the door.

“Okay, just promise me you only want to talk with him.”

“I want to break all of his ribs.” Kenny admitted “I want to see how much he enjoys it.”

“Kenny, he is a pacifist.”

“Are you standing up for him? He left me to die. Every. Single. Time.”

“I’m not standing up for him. I just think that brutalizing him won’t make you feel better. Even if you killed him would it make it any better?”

Kenny didn’t respond. She just opened the door and began her descent down the hall.

Ash - herself - had spent very little time with the others since arriving at the safe house, and was still unaware of Kenny’s origins or heritage. I mention this now because Kempachi would be the first to see Kenny out of the room. And this would be the second time they had locked eyes. I can only speculate what could have been under better circumstances. 

Kempachi upon seeing Kenny stood immediately, holstering the knife he was juggling. But this wasn’t the hopeful reunion he had expected. Her eyes were cold and grey, she was angry and her fists were clenched. She saw him and recognised him almost immediately from the forest. She didn’t acknowledge him though outside of turning her head to look him in the eyes momentarily. She walked right past him with no feeling at all. Kempachi didn’t dare to say hello. Ash made her way slowly down the hall defeated. When she saw Kempachi on the stairs Kenny had already vanished from the room and was making her way to the lab to look for Czernobog. She didn’t know he was in the lab, but she was determined to check every room until she found him.

Ash greeted Kempachi, “Hey, that was Kenny, my girlfriend. I think.”

“I know Kenny.” he said softly

“You do?”

“She is my daughter.”

Ash blinked slowly at him. “No… she isn’t. I’ve met her parents.”

“She is adopted.” He further explained. “We’ve been discussing it the last few days while she recovered.”

“So… wait? You said your daughter was...”

“Yeah the Yggdrasil. She is. It’s complicated.”

Ash slowly sits on the stairs next to the sulking Kempachi.

***********************

Kenny made her way to the Lab, when she found it the first thing she saw was Casper, who was currently shifting faces between John F Kennedy and George Bush rapidly.

She opted to ignore them like she had ignored Kempachi for the time being. Especially when she saw Czernobog. He was attempting to replicate the corrosive material by determining its chemical breakdown. Kenny angrily walked to him, her footsteps calm and firm unlike the rest of her which was giving the appearance of unfiltered rage. Czernobog turned to her.

“Kenny?” He began, she stopped walking right in front of him, she had to look up to see his eyes.

“You left me to die. For MONTHS.” Her body shook with teeming rage.

“I’m sorry, truely, please if you will allow me to explain myself. I’m sure you will understand.” he spoke rapidly, and his voice was a higher pitch entrenched in a kind of fear.

“Please, I’d love to know why the fucking Celestial GODDAMNED Star couldn’t nut up for five minutes to help ALL of us escape.”

Czernobog nodded, “Please, if you would strike me I’d appreciate the example.”

“With pleasure.” She expressed coldly, in almost inhuman speed she closed the remaining space between her and Czernobog. She grabbed the top of his shoulder to hold him and slammed her fist into his stomach lifting him from the ground. His mouth aghast at the power, and force behind the punch. When she let go of his shoulder he fell to his hands and knees and threw up a mixture of bile, blood, and saliva. It took a few moments for him to recover. He stood and with incredible speed matching almost Mercury himself he threw a sneak attack at Kenny. The swift punch……… simply passed through Kenny’s body as if he were a ghost. Kenny’s face changed from rage to immediate shock followed by an angry confusion.

Czernobog threw a few more punches that all went straight through Kenny’s body. He picked up a chair that was nearby and threw it overhead as hard as he could. It passed through Kenny entirely and slammed into an empty desk which shattered.

“I can never touch a living creature.” He explained further. “Nothing I do can physically hurt anything alive. Bullets pass through, swords mean nothing. It’s impossible for me to do anything. Mercury is immune to my emotion manipulation, I can’t explain why. He is completely immune to me, if I'd tried it would have only been a detriment to you. I don’t remember any of the loops you experienced. But even if I’d shielded you from one or two attacks, he would have still killed me, and then killed you. I’m no threat to him.”

Kenny stood silently contemplating. She was still angry. But she understood. Bias and rage aside, she knew that at the end of the day Czernabog was just as helpless as her in that base.

They talked for several hours. Casper left the room pretty early on. They didn’t want to be in the way. 

After their talk, Kenny stood to make an odd request.

“I need you to erase my anger with you.” She looked at him sternly. “Given normal circumstances I'd take my time to not be mad at you, but I understand you did what you needed to do. We don’t have the luxury to let me work through my feelings. So you are going to need to fix the problem. I give permission to get rid of the negative emotions.”

Czernobog nodded softly and placed his hand near her head “Please place your head into my hand.”

She did so slowly, as she did, she felt a weight of pain and frustration lift from her limbs and her heart up through her cheeks and her eyes. The anger, the sadness, the hurt she felt; it all began to float away. After a few minutes it was just… gone… she felt normal again for the first time in days. She felt relaxed and calm. Even a bit happy. The memories still existed but she was level headed and understanding. She felt repaired.

*************

The two emerged from the lab together to see everyone relatively getting along. Casper was messing with Kempachi by giving him a blue dragon head. Bielebog was testing out the firing range, and Ash was sitting by herself on a bed, trying to think about anything other than how shitty everything felt.

Kenny made her way down the aisle of shame for her behavior earlier. Ash had honestly not noticed Kenny yet. She wasn't sure how to feel, 'probably hurt' she had thought a few times. But in the end she just felt lethargic like she was waiting for Kenny to break up with her. The anxiety riding her in the shadows.

Kenny herself sat next to Ash. The shift on the mattress startled Ash. She wasn't expecting to see Kenny looking… more or less normal. She seemed alarmingly alert to Ash but the color had returned to her eyes and her smile had returned as well.

"Hey, you were right. I'm sorry I've been a bitch all week." Kenny extended her hand out which Ash grabbed hold of with her own.

“It's whatever. We have both had our share of bitch moments." Ash felt a wave of relief that swept through her. “Wanna like… get out of here and go do something?”

“Honestly, yeah I do, but I think I have some other obligations to attend to today. Would it be okay if we smoke tonight and then we go out tomorrow morning?” Kenny shook Ash’s arm playfully. 

“Yeah, that’s fine. I understand you are back into… well - you. You have magic stuff to take care of.” Ash smiled, and stood up. “You should meet the new crew I ran into in Brandson.”

Kenny looked up at Casper and Kempachi. They were in the middle of a staring contest, Casper had been cheating by genetically keeping their eyes moist. Ash interrupted by waving a hand in front of their faces. Gesturing with her arms to Kenny who stood up from the bed to meet them.

Casper started off the meet and greet by shifting his face to look like Kenny. “You definitely have a face!” they said reassuringly. 

“I sure hope so? You're a Celestial?” Kenny extended an arm for a handshake which Casper took very willingly.

“Capricorn! Nice to make your acquaintance, Call me Casper!” They quickly changed Kenny’s arm from a deep pale to a bright purple and then back. “I shape shift things!”

Kenny was only slightly alarmed that he could modify her body as well as his own, but it was easy to see the usefulness of his talents. She very quickly noticed that Casper had a problem with identifying with any particular form and was always shifting - constantly changing things, anything, small things, details, not everything, not at once; just always changing. It was overwhelming to think about seeing a stranger every morning. 

Kempachi had not entirely moved from the stairs yet. He was exceedingly worried about seeing Kenny again considering his first two interactions were brief and frankly… unfulfilling. He had waited so long to see her, he had longed to see her. Now the fear of her had begun to grow.

“Hello.” Kenny walked over to him: calmly, kindly.

Kempachi looked at her and sharply darted his hand up in the air as if to ask a question. Her eyes were different than the last time they had met. Kenny noticed his hand in the air and raised an expression of amused confusion and spoke again. “I recognise you. From the forest. You were hunting a deer.”

He nodded. “Yeah, You were in my house.” he lowered his hand.

“Well yeah. Honestly I don’t know how I got there.”

“I didn’t the first time either, the door is… difficult to find. I’m Kempachi Ramasama.”

“Which star are you?” She asked.

“Nah I’m human… Mostly anyway.”

“Oh shit, you kinda just look really… Different. I didn’t think any humans really hung out with Celestials. Me and Ash are kinda exceptions I think, and I guess you too.”

Kempachi stood up slowly and examined Kenny as she was. She was smaller than him and pale. She had his eyes, and Æsir’s face. “Do… Do you know… anything about me?” He asked.

“Not in particular.”

“Okay, well lets give you the grand tour!” Kempachi perked up, Ash could tell he was trying his best to put on a brave face, but his wall of fake stupidity had fallen entirely. This was the most genuine she had ever seen him. “I am good with projectile weapons, I can climb, I’m very resourceful. I have an unknown amount of knives I lost track like… a decade ago but I keep adding them into the arsenal. I also have a special arrow in my quiver that is magical but I’ve literally never seen it used because I’m very unlucky and I can’t distinguish it from any of my other arrows! I was trapped in that forest for 30 years because The Yggdrasil asked me to stay with her while she died. But that meant I’d be stuck there until the door opened again. Thanks by the way, I also no longer exist as a consequence of that so I’ll never die of old age and no one who used to know me remembers me except the Celestials. My hair is natural and I’ve never seen John Wick though I’ve heard it’s pretty good: Caspers’ recommendation. Oh also you are my daughter!”

Kenny attempted to absorb all of the information he had just dumped on her. She got almost genuinely lost when he got to his hair. But was considerably more baffled by the idea that he could be her father.

“I… think you might be confused. I’ve lived with my parents most of my life. Did that forest knock a few screws loose?”

“Unfortunately no, he has always been like that. According to my memory anyway, which isn't saying much.” Bielebog interjected.

Kenny looked at Bielebog momentarily and then turned back to Kempachi. “What makes you think I’m your daughter.”

“You opened the door that kept me locked in that forest. Either all 13 Signs need to open the door, or just one Yggdrasil. And that's you. Your mom, Æsir, was the last Yggdrasil. She died when she gave birth to you; and you set me free. Also your name, Kenny, we gave that to you. You smell like maple and honey as well; which is an oddly specific detail - frankly, but it’s exactly how your mother and the forest smells. You also look nearly identical to her. Um… I’m sure there is more. I think you get the point though.”

Kenny looked at everyone in the room. “Did all of you know this?”

Czernobog spoke up “Well, we had some suspicions when we first met you. Kempachi’s story checks out. We got full confirmation the same night we took up shelter here.”

“I beat it out of him.” Bielebog chimed in again.

“What does that mean?” Kenny asked.

"You lost that fight you coke head." Kempachi squinted at Bielebog who entirely ignored the backlash.

"Hey can we get back on point you two." Kenny snapped.

“Essentially it means you are the guardian of the universe.” said Casper entering the fray. “It’s possible that you are the only hope of keeping the timeline from going extinct.”

She stood silent for a bit contemplating what she felt. She settled on confused and worried. But then it dawned on her that she was the Yggdrasil that Mercury was hunting. Her confusion changed to fear.

“This is a very inconvenient time to tell me that I’m god… or whatever.” Kenny waved her hands around anxiously.

“Well ‘god’ is a bit generous. You aren’t particularly omnipotent, and worship means exactly zip. Humans kinda don’t matter to the Yggdrasil. ” Casper had tried going off on more semantics but Czernobog gave him an angry glare that looked like it pierced his soul. 

“You do have a lot of magical potential, and we can explain more of your powers to you later. But as it stands you don’t have access to any of your Yggdrasil powers. You are mostly human but even a human yggdrasil has access to the yggdrasil itself. That’s why you can cut through Ley Lines, and why you could see beings that lived within them. Caleb, as an example.” Czernobog clarified.

"Jesus you are all serious about this." Kenny put her hands on her hips in frustration. "I don't think I'm qualified to be the Yggdrasil."

"You can feel that way if you wish but as it stands we have little option." Czernobog continued. "We face a threat beyond our ability to fight it. And a Yggdrasil is the only hope that we have."

"Yeah I think that may be more of a detriment than a help. Mercury intends to use this time war to attract the Yggdrasil he believes to be in hiding. He would kill me and take the powers of the Yggdrasil for himself." Kenny stood silent for a moment. "If I'm what you imply then we have a problem, because we can't put Mercury in the position to get what he wants."

Bielebog stood up from his bed. "I thought he just wanted money and power?"

"If he has the power of the Yggdrasil he will never die from old age and can refill the ley lines to keep profiting off of his endless war. Plus what incurres more power than a Yggdrasil?" Capser offered.

Bielebog nodded and began to pace.

"It's more than that. It's almost as if it has nothing to do with the power of it. When we fought he said he didn't care if the universe died. All he wants is the Yggdrasil." Kenny argued.

"Do we even have a choice? There's no time to equip all of us with the necessary skills to kill Mercury without Kenny." Ash added.

"We could still in theory practice against Kenny. Czernobog we would need Diabog if we are going to stand a chance." Bielebog walked toward his brother. He pulled his gold "I" earring off. Czernobog looked at Bielebog and nodded slowly. He removed his identical earring and looked longingly at it in the palm of his hand. He laid his palm outstretched next to Biels'. 

The earrings slowly lifted and spun madly until they merged together to make the sign of the Gemini. With a bright light the twins suddenly vanished. In their place stood an identical 3rd individual wearing 1 gemini earring.  
Their voices merged rather oddly - you could hear them both speaking simultaneously. Diabog shared the pink hair but it was medium length and half fallen. He wore Czernobogs brown trench coat and Bielebogs punk leather pants. They had naturally worn the same combat boots but the right had spikes on it while the other did not. It was definitely different. He began by slowly walking around and moving his arms and legs around. And stretching his appendages.

"We were born separated, but learned we could merge to a more perfect version of us. The best pieces of both of us combined to make Diabog. We separated when Bielebog wanted to spend more alone time with… well a girl. Once that passed we had been separated so long Czernobog decided to stay separated. But that is over now. I am wanted. I am delighted to make your acquaintance Kenny, Ash, Kempachi." Diabog individually went to shake each of their hands. 

“It’s good to see you again Diabog.” Casper announced.

“I’m sorry it’s not under more favorable circumstances.” Diabog threw a wave at Casper. 

“Okay. I think we need to pool everything we have right now. So we can come up with a plan. No more bullshit secrets.” Ash walked up to a table with a decent amount of writing materials and blank blueprint scrolls.

So come together they did, Ash made a list of abilities each person possessed and included different strategum that could be useful or incorporated. 

The cliffnotes are as follows:

Mercury’s corruption is an ability with limitless potential and actively lives off of his body. The only way to truly end Mercury’s life would be to obliterate every cell in his body so that the corruption doesn’t regrow his body. Without the corruption that lives on his body he has his incredible combat sense but falls back into range of other humans and Kenny would have little trouble dispatching him. 

Casper can manipulate every cell in a living organisms' body. This is perfect for stealth and deception.

Diabog has the capability to make parts of his body physically untouchable and has incredible combat sense. He isn’t immortal like Bielebog but it hardly matters if he can’t be hit.  
Ash, Fast thinker, and strategist. Little combat ability but has the upper hand when presented with enough information to formulate a strategy.

Kempachi is a wild card and unfortunately has too many unaccountable factors, how many knives he has, his mysterious magic arrow. It is indisputable that he knows his way in a fight. He can take any means to gain an advantage over his opponents.

Kenny currently holds significant combat ability for that of a human. She also has unknown abilities as a Yggdrasil but to everyone's knowledge with enough power she could do just about anything. The problem is having the power to do it and knowing how to activate her abilities. Things that they simply don’t have time to teach her, and wouldn’t be reliable for a serious plan.

“Okay, I’ll need some time to come up with a plan. Tomorrow me and Kenny are taking a fresh day off.” Ash announced. Everyone collaboratively shrugged at the prospect of their date but it was pointless to try to convince them to stay and plan. Ultimately I believe this to be in their favor. A day off would provide them with a clear head and a fresh sense of motivation. It would clean the emotional cogs and gears that had grown tired and weary over the last few days. 

On top of this Ash was still planning to send Kenny into the past to complete the loop that led them to the Gemini. It was tedious but necessary. The loop needed to run its course or any advantage they would gain from it would be lost. These were the most difficult days for everyone, it was too calm. Too easy. And frankly it felt lazy. Kempachi was especially concerned as time would drift closer and closer to the fate his love had so greatly feared. 

This was a turning point for them all. They all knew the stakes, they all knew it would take everything they had, and even with that it still might not be enough. I’d like to say that things would get better because of the events of these next few days. Unfortunately these are just short stories that would distract us from the inevitability that the end is still coming. In the back of Kenny’s mind, she knew that nothing good was going to come of any of this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kenny has been through a very traumatic experience. Right now she is elbow deep in 'I need to save the world' hero mode, and so she is choosing to take the 'easy' route using Czernobog. At some point I'm going to explore the hero complex and how it has effected Kenny including the events of chapter 6. she hasn't recovered from her trama, she has just burried it. she will need to confront her life one day, but that won't be in this novel.


	28. Chapter 8: A Dance Between Flame and Leaves.

The girls left the safe house through the window of their bedroom on the second floor. A tedious and ultimately pointless action that they found endearment in nonetheless.

"Even if they don't want to stop us I'd like to pretend they do, for the adventure of it." Ash suggested. Kenny rolled her eyes humorously at the suggestion.

Kenny simply leapt from the building and stuck the hard landing. She barely felt anything when she landed. Ash came next and opted to climb down slower, she semi dangled from the window ledge and dropped. Her landing felt a bit harder than she had anticipated and fell over. After dusting herself off they took to stealing a car. 

It hardly mattered to them, stealing the car that is. The world was ending, no one was really keeping score anymore. They found a dodge durango in a nearby parking lot. They assumed it probably belonged to Bielebog. As most of the nearby land had belonged to him. With a car in hand they set off. The date began with a light smoke session and waffle house. 

Waffle House by itself was such an oddity to Kenny. She honestly couldn't remember a sober moment where she had enjoyed their food yet. Intoxicated - it was the easiest breakfast to choose. Ash on the other hand enjoyed them basically every day of the week and knew Kenny would want to go if she was high. Ash was particularly fond of the hashbrowns and made it a point to always order an excessive amount.

It was a quiet location this particular morning. Neither had anticipated that no one would be there with them. It made their voices sound louder to them than they really were. In typical Waffle House fashion the location was mildly gross to look at. The floors were scuffed to hell and back. The walls were all a gross dull yellow. Counter tops looked worn and faded. The employees gave off an exceptionally unique white trash vibe. It was exactly like any other waffle house you could find in america. It was exactly what Ash needed to get into the sway of the date. It was a semblance of normality. For a Waffle House - time felt stagnant in a weird and endearing fashion. Whatever hellscape they could endure outside those doors - the waffle house - felt like everything was right as rain. Just another day in the sun. Another day to feel the embrace of her true love.

After breakfast they smoked a bit more and made their way to a movie theater. A mediocre sequel to the Child's Play Reboot. They liked to watch shovelware films. The "so bad they are good" brand of filmography. They weren't always that lucky when they picked a movie but it was near the end of the film's theatrical run and the theater was dead empty. Ash - roughly 15 minutes into the movie - lifted a bunch of the armrests for the chairs and laid horizontally onto Kenny. Between quips at the dialogue and laughing at the poor cgi animation the movie was basically what they had hoped. 

They exited the theater and made their way to a mall for some light window shopping. Which mostly consisted of them talking about how cringy the movie was. They did stop at a Forever 21 and JC Penny. They also went to Sunglasses hut. It felt like they were college girls having a day to themselves. Which was exactly what they needed. Yet the weight of Kenny's insecurities began to infringe on her thoughts. The intrusive feeling that she was more trouble than she was worth. Several more stores went by and Kenny was having fun but still couldn't shake her concerns about their situation. The pot and the waffle house effect began to wear thin. Eventually she spoke up.

"Ash, do you care that I'm wrapped up in a bunch of magic bullshit?" Kenny asked at some point while they walked down the halls looking for more stores to walk through.

"Honestly. I hadn't thought about it. It's not a deal breaker by any stretch. I just don't know where I fit into all of this."

"Why did you agree to come with? I'm sure whatever I told you was ludicrous." Kenny swiped her hand through her hair to straighten it. She'd been nervous about talking to Ash about… well… the future of their relationship, frankly. Ash wasn't particularly prepared either but now the door was ajar. Why not open it further?

"Yeah, you told me you'd swapped bodies with your future self, and we needed to get you to a leyline to switch you back." Ash laughed a bit at the ridiculousness.

"Seriously? You just… accepted that? At face value?" Kenny kind of stopped walking Ash turned to look at her directly.

"Yeah. Well it was weird but enough things lined up that day that I guess I just understood that even if I didn't believe you it wouldn't stop you from going where you were going to go. I wanted to be there for it. Now here we are. You are the Yggdrasil and… I'm your girlfriend. So I guess my belief was properly placed."

"You don't mind that I'm some never dying tree that's supposed to keep life sustainable in the Universe?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Cause I'd mind… and I'm self conscious about all the magic bullshit. I'd flat out refuse the job if the continued existence of the universe didn't depend on me. I don't want to force this kind of life on someone else who doesn't want it either." Kenny walked to a small bench. Between a Hot Topic and a Gamestop. They sat down. During this time Ash thought about what she would say in response. She decided it was best to just say the thing she immediately felt.

"I'm not saying that the magic has been all cake and roses and shit. It put you through hell, but my life was hell before I knew magic could make it worse." She took a deep breath. "You already know about my childhood. When I was in the hospital... I think I met the Aries. He was a silent guy wearing the star sign. He watched over me. He made a difference to me. I never saw him after that. I wanted to thank him but I couldn't find him again. Not all the magic is bad is my point. You… at least to me… are not bad magic. You've also made a difference in my life which adds another point towards the good magic can do. So magic bullshit tree or not… 

I  
Love  
You,  
Kenny."

Ash looked at the ground anxious and embarrassed. Kenny thought about it, she'd heard everything that Ash said and it finally clicked. Kenny looked to Ash.

"I love you too." She said, she went to kiss Ash on the cheek but Ash turned to her in surprise. They kissed gently on the bench for a few seconds. When they separated they just calmly took in the moment. It was in this moment - when they looked in each other's eyes - they found if someone could be made for them it was each other. That they were lucky enough in finding that their puzzle pieces intertwined perfectly without error.

When they stood up they walked out of the mall passing by other potential shopping locations. Instead opting for a change in venue to continue the date in a more romantic setting.

Collaboratively they decided they wanted to go to lunch: Cheddars. Nothing sets the mood like cheese, or so they tell me. Lunch was simple, fun, light hearted. They laughed at the ridiculous decor of the building. Most of it was supposed to look fancy, it looked more tacky to our heroines than anything. They ate and laughed. They ordered more food than they bargained for and ended up needing several to go boxes: several. In the car they smoked again to reup for any more events of the day. Their supply is seemingly unending.

Emotionally they wanted closure to see how they felt, they wanted to breathe free - finally - despite the death slowly wrapping around their throats like a shadowy noose. They felt the press of time, so this was the solution. Pretend it isn’t happening. With the falsity up, they could have fun. The literal embodiment of the phrase, “Smoke ‘em while you got ‘em.”. Grim, isn’t it, the only way to keep going is to pretend the worst has already happened. I’d unwrap this fiendish gift for you more but I believe you fully grasp the point I'm making. 

Smoked out and exhausted they drove to a bar that would be opening soon. I say bar but it was more of a late night club. Live DJ, Dancing, loud bumping music. The bouncer was a buff latino man with an accent and quick to flip between spanish and english but in a way context would be easily conveyed.

“ANDALE! IDs out, please.” he gestured gruffly. 

“Right here.” Kenny produced her ID from her wallet.  
Ash pulled hers directly from her pocket. She didn’t keep a wallet, she had enough pockets in most of her pants that she didn’t feel a need to carry them. Keys, debit card, ID, Phone. Not much to keep track of. Kenny on the other hand had too much stuff to keep track of: a big wallet was part of her ensemble. 

The bouncer checked them and nodded. “está bien, está bien, show me your hands!”

They outstretched their arms and he put a clear stamp on their hands. It was a star pattern and was intended to glow in the dark, the idea was to let the bartenders know they were valid customers. Anyone without a star didn’t come through the front door. 

“Bueno, have fun ladies.”

They got in and they got exactly what they were expecting. The building was practically filled to the brim with people dancing wildly. Fog lightly fluttered around their ankles and colorful lights strobed across the building in various chaotic patterns.

“You want a drink?” Ash asked, she was practically shouting it was so loud. Kenny smiled and took her hand. They walked to the counter to order. Kenny ordered a Top Shelf Long Island. Ash ordered a Bourbon on the rocks, and some hot wings. The drinks arrived swiftly which meant almost nothing - considering how much they had eaten less than an hour ago. 

Ash still feeling the rush from her high felt the music coursing through her body. The beat and base vibrating through her head. Which made her feel like dancing. From Kenny’s perspective she just saw Ash swaying side to side to the music and bouncing up and down which made some of her heavier piercings jiggle lightly as she moved. 

The lights would occasionally flash past the dancing Ash as they waited for their food. Kenny sipped her drink and just smiled while she watched. Ash would occasionally introduce small talk to the environment. It was clear to Kenny that her girlfriend was much more out of it than she was. Kenny wasn’t sure if they needed to worry about a designated driver; or if abandoning the car was an option, and they would send Diabog, or Casper to obtain it later. She shook her head at the thought. She didn’t want to think. She chugged her Long island and ordered another swiftly. Trying to shake her anxieties. Ash hardly noticed. Once the Long island hit her, all she could feel was the alcohol. The food arrived and they were back into party mode. Ash and Kenny drank for a decent while talking lightly.

“You should know Kempachi is kinda a badass.” Ash mentioned.

“Yeah? He looks kinda ridiculous.”

“Yeah doesn’t he? I can’t get a read on him. Like he is always playng dumb.” 

“Hah. I kinda like him. He is easier to understand than the Stars. I guess it’s the human aspect or whatever.” 

I laughed a little at the thought of Kempachi being simpler than myself. Even if true, for the time being.

“Yeah the stars are their own thing, I can’t always place the shit they do. Have you noticed their comments about omnipotence?”

“Yeah. I guess I’m not gonna be all knowing or whatever.”

“Not that I mind, you aren't allowed to watch me with your weird time powers. I’d consider that snooping.”

“Aw not even a little? That was the part I was gonna be excited for!”

“I wonder what you are gonna get?”

“Probably like… tree powers.”

“OOH Vine Whips!” Ash bit her lip seductively.

“OH BOI!” Kenny hollered.

They drank a few shots; and a kind of ‘poppy’ EDM began playing and Kenny got really into the music. She grabbed Ash’s arm who was finishing up another drink. She quickly slammed her drink and placed it onto the counter then allowed Kenny to drag her to the dance floor. They danced together rather un-elegantly, but it hardly mattered. To them this was one of the best party nights they'd had in a long time. It brought them back to the night they had first met.

*********************

Kenny was sitting alone outside their college campus, it was a frat party. She had been invited by “a friend of an acquaintance”. Wasn’t really her scene. She found a small hill that was a small distance from the house overlooking a decent chunk of the city. She was breathing calmly and quietly. Tired, she hadn’t enjoyed being around, or making, friends considering her list of fucked friendships.

Anthony had taken her on a date that she remembers in two pieces. First she woke up high already at the bar, her anxiety of being in an unfamiliar location triggered and Anthony tried to take her home but was shot in an alleyway by a rival. He is now permanently diabled, and hates her in his own way. In the sense that the last time they spoke was in the hospital while he was recovering and he told her “I wish you’d gotten shot instead of me.”  
Jeremy, the Alcoholic abusive type. He went to Alcoholics Anonymous and got sobered up. After he got his 3 month chip an elevator fell while he was in it. She watched the elevator fall from the 5th floor. He died.  
Kit, an artist she met on her first day before she even met Caleb. Talented too, she painted artistic representations of people she knew, she had a muse that she liked to paint. The spitting image of Caleb. She had never met him, though he knew her pretty well, if he had taken a liking to any of Kenny’s friends he had taken it to Kit. She put a bullet in her mouth while Kenny was trying to console her.  
Izzy played Violin. She had a really weak heart as well, Kenny tended to be really encouraging towards her wanting to play her own composed performance. Once she had finally reached the stage and began her first song. One of the lights fell. Kenny was in the front row.  
Gary’s ex-boyfriend got really drunk one night after they broke up. Kenny was walking with Gary to make him feel better on a particularly difficult night. His Ex drove his car into him at 70 miles per hour then killed himself. Gary died before the ambulance arrived.  
Q and Christina(Chris). Childhood friends. Chris had been dating Jeremy, despite his alcoholism, Q had feelings. Her mother was harsh on her and was her own level of abusive. Chris went to visit her mother one night. Kenny was overwhelmingly drunk with the group, this was one of the few nights that she didn’t witness the event first hand. Chris was beaten within an inch of her life because she told her mother about Jeremy and refused to break up with him. Q arrived right before something more fatal happened and killed her mother. Scared for his future having commit murder, he disapeared, his phone disconnected after making a 911 call to an ambulance. Chris’s arms were so badly damaged she couldn’t hold a pencil to save her life. Her educational career tanked while she attempted to recover. Then, with Q gone, when Jeremy died she had nothing. It was all so violent and pointless. Q hasn’t reached out since.

Kenny decided to stop having friends once everything all came together. She couldn’t handle the idea that everyone around her would receive such cruel fates. So here she was alone and friendless on a hill overlooking a city she resented. It all felt so lifeless to her. 

She took a hit.  
And another.  
And another.  
And another.

“Hey, can I mooch a lighter off you?” a voice whispered next to her.

A girl sat next to her on the verge of tears.

“I’ll do you one better, do you just want a hit?” Kenny passed the blunt to the girl. She was in a cute pink skirt and a violet blouse. Her face was covered in different piercings with almost no pattern, the piercings didn’t seem to match her outfit or her voice for that matter. And once Kenny knew her as Ash, they barely matched her personality.

“Thanks,” Ash said, her exhale sharp and long. “A bunch of pricks inside were harassing me. One of them pulled a piercing as a joke.” she pointed to a cartilage piercing at the top of her left ear. “Shit fucking hurts.”

“Jesus.” Kenny made a face of disgust. “Pricks, this place wasn’t really my scene. So I just kinda stepped out to smoke. You are welcome to chill with me.”

“Thanks again.” she took another sharp hit and passed. “Do you mind if I play some music? It chills me out.”

“Go for it, same for the most part. I like physical CD’s.” Kenny mentioned.

Ash played Rhinestone Eyes by Gorillaz. “I haven’t bought a CD in a long time. I wouldn’t mind collecting some of my more favorite albums.”

They sat quietly passing and just listening to music. Essentially by Japanese Breakfast played next.

“I like your music.” Kenny smiled and turned her back to lean into a tree she was next to.

“Thanks... I... like my music too.” Ash turned to actually look at Kenny for the first time. Her hair was short and brown, her smile was energetic and gentle. Ash would have immediately described her as unnaturally beautiful. Kenny wasn’t the kind of person she would peg to smoke pot, let alone even be talked into going to a frat party let alone showing up. Though she understood why Kenny didn’t like this crowd. Or at least she had her assumptions.

They made small talk for a bit, Ash pulled out her own blunt and they continued smoking on the hill. Kenny found herself unquestionably high. She turned up Ash’s music, Fred Astair by Jukebox the Ghost was playing. She extended an arm.

“Do you wanna dance with me?” she asked.

***************************

Kenny and Ash danced together with every ounce of energy they had. Once their energy was out they danced on what they called “The power of crossfading”. It wasn’t until 2 am that they left the club. Their phones were practically dead. The day was completely spent.

Ash pulled her phone from her pocket and dialed Kempachi.

*ring ring*

“Kempachi Ramasama! What's up?” He answered.

“H.. HEy, We neeeed a ride. And someone to drive our car back.” Ash was having trouble focusing.

“Damn, you two alright? You sound fucked up.”

“We are defffinatly fucked up. You and Casssper should come get us.”

Kempachi yelled across the room at Casper who was, frankly, excited to get out of the house. “They are down, text me the address we will be there soon.” They hung up.

After about a half hour Kempachi and Casper arrived. The girls piled into one vehicle being driven by Casper.

“So Kempachi is gonna drive the other car, I gave him a bit of experience and he is slowly remembering how to drive. So we will see how that goes!” Casper beamed enthusiastically. 

Kenny smirked “It’s not my car so he can crash it if he wants.”

“Nice!” Casper nodded and gave Kempachi a thumbs up.

It took about 45 minutes to get home with Kempachi swerving a little too much. At least once or twice Ash'd had the thought that it might be safer if she had driven instead of him. Ash noticed Kenny, tired, unguarded, she looked like she does when she sleeps, calm and peaceful. This was the first time she had seen Kenny look like this while awake. It made her smile. Kenny noticed the smile and sat up to give Ash a kiss, her wordless 'thank you' for a good date.

They got home and said their goodnights, it was late, and they were quite tired. Tomorrow would be a long day for Kenny in particular.

“I’ve got to work with the others to get them ready to fight Mercury.” she explained as she sleepily removed her shirt.

“Do you think you’ll be able to prepare them properly?” Ash asked, sliding into bed.

“That’s tomorrow's problem, and it’s not tomorrow until I fall asleep.”

“So is it still date night until you fall asleep?” Ash posed a new question with a cute smile.

Kenny smiled sleepily back “Did you have something in mind?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kenny and Ash's relationship was stagnant for quite a while, so i wanted them to grow together. i chose to do it here. while building a bit more understanding toward Kenny's backstory. i hope this chapter was cute.


	29. Chapter 9: The Overwhelming Gap In Their Abilities.

Everyone met up in the basement of the safe house that morning. The basement had a firing range, a hand to hand combat training room, and an armory of sorts. It was well lit and spacious, the floor was made of foam to help pad any crashes or falls. Not that it would help in this case. 

Kenny lined everyone up once they were all in attendance.

“Okay, today is training day. I’m not a professional at teaching. However I can give you real experience towards the level we will need to be at to beat Mercury. I want to start us off with a basic sparring session. I also thought of an exercise that will hopefully get you to focus not only on beating him but protecting others from collateral.”

Kempachi raised his hand, to which Kenny called on him.

“If you are as capable as you say you are, and you couldn’t beat him, then what makes you think one day of hand to hand warm ups will help?”

“It’s more for me and Ash to see how prepared we are to fight Mercury. If none of you can take me down then we will need to assume that we will be utterly helpless to stop him in a frontal assault.” Kenny further explained. “I want Diabog, Casper, and you Kempachi. To all attack me head on, your goal will be to overpower me.”

Kenny was holding a sword in her right hand, her personal weapon of choice. The weight in her hand felt normal but for some reason it felt incomplete. She felt in her bones that she wanted a particular sword. Though she had no clue what that feeling meant. Kenny raised her sword to the group.

Kempachi without further prompting immediately pulled an arrow from his quiver across his bow. Diabog slowly walked toward Kenny. Casper pulled a gun and modified his eyes and hands to be more accurate and steady.

Kempachi let his arrow lose first. Kenny, slashed the arrow in half with incredible speed. She darted to the left as Casper began firing his pistol, Diabog practically teleported behind her and swung a hard left kick. Kenny spun fast on her feet swinging the blade hard and fast but Diabogs leg connected to Kenny’s torso - throwing her hard into a far wall. She bounced back quickly as he darted at her with a strong right hook. She ducked it and slashed at his stomach. The sword swept cleanly through him, the blade, sliding smoothly past him like a ghost.

He jerked a right knee upwards which she used her left arm to block, however, his knee went straight through her arms and directly connected to her left cheek. Two blows in and she was suddenly cornered by Diabog who had an array of bizarre abilities all on his own. As she tried to retreat Kempachi fired several arrows anticipating where she would be going. 

Just narrowly avoiding the arrows she managed to create space between her and Diabog, however Casper appeared to be missing. Kenny smiled at the inability to determine where he was. Her mind was only distracted momentarily, as Diabog dashed toward her again quickly pulling Celeste from a void. She attempted to block the pipe however the pipe went straight through her sword. She ducked to evade, the attack only narrowly missed. She sped up to compensate for the miscalculation in their abilities as a team. In what seemed like a flash she was in front of Kempachi, who was clear across the room. She threw a spinning back kick into his gut sending him flying painfully into a wall. Diabog smiled. 

She stood still, he threw a series of fast thrusts with Celeste - she evaded. She jabbed several times at his stomach, none of which seemed to make any contact. They appeared to be at a stalemate. 

Suddenly a floating gun made an appearance into the room and several shots fired toward Kenny. She moved sharply and pushed backwards off the ground to get away from the spray of bullets. His spread was wide enough that she could get hit if she wasn’t careful. With a dart behind the floating gun and grabbing Casper by the shoulder - holding him firmly in place. She dropped the sword and slammed her fist into his right kidney. 

The pain surged up through his side and into his spine. He suddenly became fully visible as he dropped to the ground. Kenny recovered her sword as he fell. Kempachi had just recovered from the wall and had begun losing arrows along her path of movement. She kept changing her path to accommodate for Kempachi’s arrows this only stood to lead her to Diabog. He threw a series of rapid punches all of which Kenny avoided. She swept with her leg to try to trip him however her leg passed through again. 

She threw a few forward punches then quickly moved to his side in a blink of an eye and threw a quick kick which made Diabog flinch and move his arm to block. The first real attempt at blocking one of her attacks, this told her all she needed to know. 

She began moving extremely fast around Diabog, causing him to swing Celeste madly, Kempachi shot arrows between his two sides. Suddenly a kick came from under Diabog. The blow struck his lower ribs, lifting him off the ground. Breathless he tried to recover but Kenny lept above him quickly slashing an arrow that Kempachi fired as she went up. She twisted her body in a confusing position which baffled Diabog. When suddenly Kenny swung her sword hard Diabog reacted as best he could the blade barely touched his skin leaving a cut right before he turned his body noncorporeal - allowing the sword to pass through mostly unharmed. What he didn’t see coming was Kenny, who had already moved positions, lunging her blade into his opposite side as he fell. The blade pierced completely through him down to the swords hilt. He landed on the ground with a hard crash. Kempachi prepared for Kenny to come for him next.

Casper had been slowly getting up off the floor but still quite pained by the blow. He attempted to come to Kempachi’s aid. Kenny kicked off the ground and swung an explosive right hook. Kempachi evaded the punch causing her arm to practically sink into the wall behind him. Casper, who had quickly swiped a knife from Kempachi’s arsenal, slashed at Kenny, whose arm was now stuck in the wall. Her free’d left arm grabbed Caspers wrist and she swung her body as hard as she could slamming him into the wall. She threw a back kick at Kempachi, who was pulling a few knives himself, throwing him violently backwards. She pulled her arm from the wall - debris crumbled out of the hole - her arm covered in dust. 

Kempachi pulled himself up off of the ground and threw several knives while Kenny dusted off her arm. She caught the knives midair and began throwing them back. The knives she threw kempachi himself caught midair which prompted him to throw them back again. Kenny refusing to play the game kicked two of the knives out of the air and grabbed the last knife and threw it at Diabog who was trying to pull himself up after phasing her sword from his body. The last knife only narrowly missed Diabog, who allowed the knife to pass harmlessly through him. 

Then she stopped.

“You all have lost any advantage you once had over me.”

“Meaning?" Kempachi growled.

“You had the element of surprise when I didn’t know your fighting styles or abilities and limitations. I now know all of your strengths and weaknesses. When we started the fight Diabog landed two hits because I didn’t know about his ability to phase through defenses and attacks.  
Our goal will be to beat him within the first minute of the fight before he has a chance to get a hang of our abilities. Everyone, take a few minutes to relax and heal. We can start again when you are all ready.” They all slumped on the ground exhausted and bruised.

Round 2. 

Kempachi stood up and stretched his legs. Once he felt set he walked to the center of the room. He raised his hand firmly in the air as if to ask a question.

Kenny had been laying on the ground waiting quietly. 

“Do you need something?” She sat up and yawned.

“I’d like to fight you one on one.” he pulled his long bow off of his back and stood at the ready. 

"Why?" She looked at him: confused.

"What? You don't wanna bond with your old man?"

"You aren't my 'old man' I met you two days ago."

"You may not see me as a father to you, but we are blood. I've spent years hunting and training, I'm far more capable than that last warm up round." He cracked his knuckles with vigor. An arrogant smile crawled across his face.

Kenny felt uneasy, she knew this would be an obliteration. He had no chance one on one against her, at the same time she didn’t feel a reason to completely decline his request. She stood slowly and walked to the center of the room. She nodded at him.

Round Start.

Kempachi began by quickly pulling two arrows simultaneously and broke into a sprint counterclockwise around her. She kept her eyes on him and moved her body slightly to intercept his arrows, that was when he let them loose, two arrows flew with incredible speed. Kenny sidestepped and grabbed one from the air swiftly and the other arrow pierced her left shin. The pain of the arrow was a lot but not quite debilitating. She sprinted to him, suddenly in front of him she swung her left leg. 

Kempachi stepped back to evade. while her foot whizzed past him he quickly retrieved his arrow from her leg. The force of the kick helped pull it out. She winced in the unexpected pain. She swung two jabs hard and fast at Kempachi who desperately needed to gain some distance from her. Kem deflected her first punch and the second landed hard on his stomach which sent him flying backwards at an incredible speed. She followed his flight path and prepared a hard right hook. He landed on the ground on both legs and slowed to a stop but he was met with the incoming full force of Kenny's fist. He dodged to the left. The wind from her punch was ferocious and psyched Kempachi out. He pulled two knives quickly as Kenny tried to sweep his legs from under him. He leapt barely avoiding the kick. Her follow up was a spinning roundhouse. Kempachi put both his arms up to take the brunt of her kick. Right before her leg made contact he shifted his block downward her leg furiously swinging into his two knives. The knives pierced to the hilt. Her eyes lit up with pain. Her face twisting in agony. Kempachi took the moment of opportunity to handspring away creating somewhat of a false distance. 

It was false because he knew she could close the distance in an instant, but to him, instant was enough. She had far too much wind up. He could see her attacks coming. Kenny pulled one knife from her leg. she saw 4 arrows all flying in her direction she rolled to her right evading them. As she rolled she pulled the second knife from her leg. She threw it at the approximate understanding of Kempachi’s location then dashed toward him faster than the knife which she had thrown. Grabbing him hard by his trench coat and throwing him into the blade. He fell hard and ungracefully. On one particular landing he hit directly on the hilt of the knife which twisted it and causing Kempachi to yelp. He stood as fast as he could but it wasn’t fast enough. Kenny swung a kick up at Kempachi’s face. Quickly Kempachi blocked by crossing his arms in front of his face. The kick sent him flipping backwards. He hit a wall knife hilt first. His face twisted in pain. He stood up from the ground and pulled the knife from his back holding the knife backward in his hand. Kenny swung a right hook at him. As he evaded he held the blade of the knife outward just enough that the tip of the knife sliced her flesh. Surprised by the fast retaliation she stepped back for a moment to assess her next assault. 

He hadn’t expected her to back off even for a moment. This was the difference between her and Mercury. Mercury wouldn’t have hesitated to think. It wouldn’t have mattered, Kempachi had been wide open. She was unable to see the opening. This was Kempachi’s moment. He threw the knife in his hand and followed it as fast as he could. He swung hard at the hilt of the knife, rocketing the blade at her. One of his eyes went blank for him. He couldn’t tell why. He assumed blood loss. The knife, when hit, sent a loud crack through the air just a moment after the punch. The force of the punch pushed him backwards a bit. The knife slammed into Kenny’s right shoulder throwing her backwards spinning through the air. She hit a wall slightly behind her and stood to recover. Several arrows were headed towards her which she rolled to avoid but Kempachi was already there. She, in a quick reaction, threw a punch full force into his stomach while she took one arrow to the side. Which launched him furiously into the stands where Casper and Diabog were sitting. He slammed through the wall entirely. Sliding harshly across the ground outside. That was when Kempachi passed out.

But he was far from done. 

He stood up from the grass outside. And walked through the hole in the wall. Kenny looked into his eyes. As he slowly walked back into the arena. Diabog put an arm on his shoulder. Glitches covered his face like a mask.

“Kempachi, You did a good job, You can s…” Diabog felt afraid, the rage and anguish coursing through Kempachi’s veins was an unchecked, unfiltered fury like one he had only felt in Mercury.

“Kenny.”

“Yeah?” she stood and pulled the knife from her shoulder. 

“I've never seen this before.”

That was when Kempachi tried to throw a Hammer Fist into Diabog’s face. With his hand on Kempachi he already felt the intention. The swing went entirely through him. 

Diabog let go and took a step back.

“I’m not done.” The unconscious man spoke.

“Yes you are.” Kenny pulled the arrow from her side.

“I’m not done.” He repeated.

“He is unconscious, and he is angry about something. There’s a force driving his actions. We need to wake him up.” Diabog suggested.

“Easy.” Kenny dashed at him in a curve from his right side.

Swinging hard she clocked him in the face with her left fist. Launching him from the ground. He flipped through the air but landed on his feet Kenny was too fast for him to track… So she thought. 

Her next attack was to his left side dashing at an angle again. He redirected her punch into the ground. Debris exploded from the impact. She pulled her arm from the ground and re-adjusted. Kempachi grabbed her shoulder and slammed his fist into her stomach, sending her off the ground and spinning wildly through the air until she slammed violently into the ceiling. She fell and Kempachi fired several arrows. She caught 2 of the arrows on the way down but felt 2 others slam into her left side.

She was off her momentum. Kempachi had never been this strong before. “Still not enough for Mercury.” She thought to herself. 

“Casper I’m going to get him in range of you. I need you to wake him up once I get him in front of you.”

“Rodger Dodger Captain.” Casper saluted gleefully.

Kenny launched from her standing position. Connecting a hard punch into Kempachi. Then dashed behind his flight trajectory and slammed a kick into his back a crack sounded off and Kempachi flew to the other end of the room. Kenny launched off the ground another crack as her foot left the ground, the cement shattering from the force. A side kick into Kempachi. Kempachi grabbed Kenny mid attack, using her own momentum. He regained his bearings and slammed her into the ground, her body bounced off the floor. As she began falling back to the ground Kempachi threw a forceful punch into her stomach bouncing her off the floor again. Then grabbing her arm he swung her slamming her into a wall. He began a mad flurry of blows bouncing her off the wall into one rageful punch after another. She had to ignore what he was doing in order to gain the clearity to block one of his punches properly. She grabbed his arm and slammed her palm into his jaw, dislocating it. Her palm tingling like fire as it passed through the mask of glitches. Then back kicked him with all of her might and screamed “HERE HE COMES CASPER!” a crack fired off and suddenly Kempachi broke through the wall behind Casper. Who quickly got on top of Kempachi, as he regained consciousness the glitches faded as if they'd never existed. 

Kem was now awake and dizzy and bruised and had a broken jaw - as well as several other splintered and broken bones. He was in rough shape. Kenny had a few bruises and was bleeding from her stab wounds and her cuts but was standing relatively unconcerned. 

Diabog walked to Kenny while Casper was treating Kem’s wounds and Ash followed suit. 

“Kenny, Are you okay?” Ash asked.

“I’m fine, no big deal.” Kenny wrapped her bleeding arms around Ash and planted a light kiss on her cheek. “It was unexpected but Kempachi still doesn’t punch as hard as Mercury. He might be faster… might… even with speed though I only was in danger because I wasn’t going to kill him. Mercury will immediately.”

“Do you think he will be a liability if this happens again?” Diabog asked.

“I’m not sure.” Kenny replied.

“He won’t.” Ash interjected.

“What makes you say that?” Diabog tilted his head.

“He knew who his opponent was when he was out, he attacked you Diabog to get you to let go of him. But he didn’t even try to attack me or Casper. If he goes unconscious he will attack Mercury. But… I think we should be concerned about why Kempachi doesn’t fight like that while awake.”

“Maybe… he can’t?” Kenny questioned her own response. Unsure if that was an easy assumption to make.

“It’s possible that Kempachi has some side effects from a lack of existence in the universe.” Diabog posed the possibility. “He was completely forgotten by me and the other stars, we have basically no memory of him even the Sagittarius couldn’t remember him. His whole family forgot him. It’s possible that there are other unforeseen side effects of this. Since he doesn’t exist, it's possible that when he fell unconscious he tapped into some non existent power simply because he believed he could be that powerful.” 

“I guess we should figure out what triggers his strength, maybe we can get it to trigger while he is awake.” Ash stretched and turned to walk away. “Make sure Casper fixes you up before you go again Kenny.”

Kenny smiled at the gesture “She is worried about me… cute.”

Kenny walked to Kempachi.

“You alright there bud?” She questioned.

Kempachi was laying on his back with Casper lightly touching his arm. She watched as some of his bruises slowly began to clear up. “Never better, pretty sure you whooped my ass, but judging by what you look like I put up a decent fight.” He coughed as one of his ribs reset.

“You did better this time.”

“Nice!” Kempachi tried to fist pump but his free arm was broken so he lightly tapped the floor with his fist instead.

“Why were you so angry with me Kempachi?” Kenny sat on the ground next to him.

“I’m not angry with you? What do you mean.”

“When you were unconscious you were stronger than I ever expected. You refused to give up the fight even when you were out cold. Diabog told me he felt an insatiable rage from you.”

Kempachi opened his mouth to reply but the words caught in his throat.

“You don’t have to tell me but I don’t know how to make you go berzerk again. Also I’d rather not have you angry with me when we get to the actual fight.” Kenny elaborated her concerns.

“I’m not mad… at you.” Kempachi looked up at Kenny. “I’m mad at... something.”

“Something?”

“Exactly, it's not something I understand, like there's something pent up. Something that lingers in the back of my mind like a tick. I don't remember what that is though.” Kempachi slammed his foot on the ground as his free arm reset and the splintered bone fragments moved through him to heal the bone. “I won't lie to you though. Even if the world ends, Æsir will be avenged.”

Kenny placed a gentle hand on his cheek. “I understand how you feel. Just don’t let your rage get in the way. We are a team, meaning you need to be in control or you could get us all killed.” She stood, “When Casper is done healing you please go upstairs to rest. I’m benching you from training.”

Kempachi nodded. Kenny walked away.

Round 3.

“Ash.” Kenny called

Ash turned to look at her. “Yes?” she mumbled.

“I need you for the next exercise, is that okay?” Ash thought about it for a moment.

“Sure, I guess, what do you need me to do?”

Kenny standing at the west wall pointed to the east wall. “Stand on the opposite side of the room as me, your job is to kinda just avoid me as best you can.”

“Avoid?” Ash questioned?

Kenny nodded back in response then she snapped her fingers

“Casper, Diabog you are up.”

The two stood and walked to the east wall and stood slightly in front of Ash.

“Your job is to protect Ash by any means.” she pulls out a sharpie marker. “If I put a fatal mark on Ash you lose, mission failed. If you manage to subdue me, knock me unconscious, or if Ash lives for 5 minutes then you win.” 

The 3 stared between each other. 

“I don’t understand, protecting Ash isn’t going to stop Mercury?” Diabog interjected.

“Correct, but Ash is going to be there as a tactician, keeping tabs on the flow of the battle and relaying strategies in real time. You need to know where she is at any given point in time, and if Mercury finds her he might try to make it a point to kill her. She is the most vulnerable of us all so it's our job to keep her safe. If Mercury tries to take her as a hostage we need to be prepared. Ash has been watching the training and has watched your abilities. She should be able to help you two call shots that will keep her alive… and… above all else. And there is one other purpose to this training.” Kenny pulled her sword from the ground and looked at it calmly “You will also need to protect me. If Mercury kills me it IS game over, he becomes the Yggdrasil end of story. This is to test your ability to overcome overwhelming odds to keep everyone safe.”

They all nodded at each other. “I’m going to put noise canceling earbuds in. You won’t want to remove these. I’m keeping them in so Ash can discreetly relay information to you. In the real fight we will be radio connected and she will be in the distance, but we don’t have much room for that. So we will make due.”

Casper Cracked his knuckles “We can take this easy. We held back the first time. Didn’t want to accidentally hurt you.”

“It may be true we pulled our punches...” Diabog began, he briefly looked at Kenny who was putting the second ear plug in. “But so was she, she is faster than sound, we can’t beat her in speed. With speed comes force and heat.”

Ash pulled the two of them close in a huddle. “You guys realise that Kenny is confident you two can’t beat her in a fight yes?”

“What’s your point?” Casper asked

“With that in mind our 3 options of winning don’t make any sense. We probably won’t be able to subdue her, not without a lot of luck, and we definitely will have problems trying to force her unconscious. Our only actual win condition is to survive 5 minutes.” Ash scratched her head. “We can’t play defensively though, not entirely. I have an idea.”

***********************

When all the planning was said and done. They all stood at the ready. 

Kenny held the hilt of her sword at eye level and pointed it at them coldly. Suddenly she was gone in a flash. A slash flew through the air in front of Casper who quickly grew bone shields from their forearms to block, they pushed off her blade forcefully and charged her growing sharp claws and fangs. 

Diabog flanked the side with Celeste swinging a flurry of blows. She smiled darteding to her left side, away from both assailants, unopposed she moved in toward Ash. Kenny holding the marker in her left hand made a quick motion to mark her, but Ash pulled Czernobog’s pistol and fired three rounds, the first grazed her cheek the second grazed her right side the third hit her in the left side passing through her. In shock Kenny quickly retreated a few steps, right into Diabog who had a growth in muscles thanks to Casper. They brought Celeste down hard, Kenny rolled quickly to the side when Casper came out from behind sporting his wolf-like features, clawing fast and harsh. Kenny blocked his claws with her sword. 

“I need to turn up the heat, this is too easy for them.”

Diabog smiled, recovering from his heavy handed attack, and hulked his way over to Kenny who looked to be at the edge of her rope.

“Three way flank now!” Diabog shouted, Ash quickly moved to Kenny’s back right side and fired the last four rounds in her clip. Diabog charged to Kenny’s back left and lunged sloppily with his pipe. Kenny leapt hard off the ground out of the triangle she had been entrapped in. debris blasting in all directions from her jump.

With the extra space she looked at her opponents in a new light.

“Diabog is larger so he is slower, Ash has a gun,” one that was in the process of being reloaded with exceeding finesse, it didn’t surprise her to know Ash knew how to shoot. “Casper is a loose cannon and definitely the most dangerous: one touch from him and he can atrophe my muscles which would be very bad. I’ve just gotta take out Casper and then it's over, I just can’t touch him.”

“Casper, stay alert. You are her top priority.” Diabog mentioned. “If she slips up and makes physical contact with you take her out.”

Ash followed up.   
Casper charged with incredible speed, but not fast enough. Kenny leapt upwards debris bursting from the force, she spun hard and kicked some of the rocks in Casper’s direction. Diabog was hot on Caspers heels, and pulled a gun of his own and fired three rounds as Kenny fell. Two hit the debris falling with her, the last Kenny sliced with her sword, she pressed her legs into the back wall as she fell and rocketed herself at Diabog, with a loud crack she was gone and Kenny slammed her fist directly into Diabog’s stomach, sending him flying backwards.

“He can’t go hollow if I’m faster.” she thought

Casper darted over to Diabog and caught him, shrinking him back to normal size and quickly putting time into healing his stomach as fast as he could. Quickly picking Diabog up onto his feet as Kenny flew at Casper, sword extended. They rolled fast and hard out of the way. Then increased the strength of his leg muscles and exploded toward Kenny. Swinging punch after punch. Ash followed slowly behind firing bullets to keep Kenny contained to Caspers flurry of fists. She avoided most of his punches and deflected the others with the flat of the blade. Countering his right hook by slapping his hand downwards using the flat of her sword, then quickly plunged it into his shoulder.

Casper gasped in pain. He made a move to grab Kenny’s hand which was held fast on the hilt. Kenny swiftly let go, and took several steps back. Casper now had her only protection against him. Diabog however swung Celeste behind her. She grabbed the pipe mid swing and pulled him towards her and struck the side of his jaw with a palm strike dislocating it. In pain Diabog loosened his grip on Celeste, and that was when Kenny took it.

“Okay, now we have control of the fight, they are all badly wounded, and they haven’t managed to dish out any meaningful hits.”

Kenny made a mad dash at Ash. The marker ready to issue the win; she was leading Casper into a trap, he easily took the bait. They raced towards Ash when Kenny made a hard stop and suddenly she was on the other side of Casper. She slammed Celeste onto the hilt of the blade that was already deeply piercing him. She slammed him into the ground hard with the pipe. Casper grasped for her leg. She slammed the tip of Celeste down on his knuckles breaking several of his fingers, which he would re-adjust the moment she let him up. She stepped off of him, Diabog had finished fixing his jaw tears streaming down his face but determination in his eyes. 

“Casper stretch now!” Diabog shouted, suddenly Caspers fingers wriggled into long tentacle wips, Kenny panicked and jumped away letting him up. She couldn’t risk them touching her, the fingers split and grew shifting into tons of wild little grabbers. Kenny underestimated their Shapeshifting. 

“Fine you want all out you got it!”

Suddenly Kenny was gone, they had no eyes on her, just deafening and disorienting cracks she was bouncing all over the room with incredible speed. Casper felt Kenny’s blade swiftly eject from his wound and disappear into the air, he could have sworn that he actually saw Kenny’s face for a moment. “You two stand back this is gonna hurt like hell!” Casper said and suddenly his whole body exploded with small thin tendrils sliding around and stretching to touch every corner of the room. He could locate Kenny by where she was slicing his tendrils. And sure enough she was navigating the room like a blender obliterating any trace of Casper’s limbs near her, he wasn’t getting any closer, but it was lessening the clock; little by little. Then Casper let out a violent war cry and went entirely invisible. The idea was that if they were invisible Kenny wouldn’t know where to slice. This was their last ditch effort to subdue her. Kenny knew where Caspers main body was and sliced her way to the center. Cutting Casper nearly in half.

“This is it!” Kenny thought to herself.

Casper expended so much energy into such an elaborate shapeshift and evolving it that they only had enough energy to piece themselves back together, this was the end of the fight for them. They both knew it. Diabog looked at Kenny. She wasn't even winded.

30 seconds.

Kenny charged across the room at Diabog grabbing him and hurling him across the room. She sprinted fast at him and slammed a fist into his stomach which put him on the ground. He rolled onto his hands and knees coughing and spitting Kenny turned and slowly walked at Ash who was out of bullets. 

25 seconds.

Kenny threw her left arm out and then she appeared directly in front of Ash with a resounding crack in the air. Kenny’s eyes opened wide in surprise. The marker went completely through Ash’s head. 

“Diabog?”

20 Seconds.

Casper put one hand on the Diabog look alike, turning them into Ash. 

“A fake out!” 

Kenny tried to dart to the other side of the room to Mark the wounded Ash. However when she turned to go she got caught. Diabog had hardened himself where she had passed through him. Her left hand was lodged in Diabogs Skull  
15 seconds.

“Fine you’ll come too!” She grabbed him by the waist, the tip of the marker was poking out of his head she could still win. She tried to pick him up but when she pulled his arm was lodged inside a wall. Holding the two of them there.

“Damn you!” Kenny yelled.

10 seconds.

Kenny kicked at his side and her leg went partially through before she was caught in his stomach.   
She slamed him into the wall with her body. She made a quick move to slice off the arm that was lodged in the wall. But it passed through harmlessly. She dropped the sword.

5 Seconds…

She slammed her fist hard into the wall splintering it , Diabog’s arm was no longer caught in it.

4.

She grabbed the falling sword. Looking at Diabog Smiling Angrily. She bit her lip.

3

She sliced her leg and arm off freeing her from Diabog. His mouth opened in shock.

2.

She yelped in pain then looked toward the winded Ash laying on the floor breathlessly. She produced a new marker from her pocket already uncapped.

1.

She burst toward Ash, slowed by half she stretched out her arm.

0.  
The bell rang.  
Ash’s forehead unmarked.  
Game over. 

Kenny lost balance and fell onto the ground between the winded Ash and the wounded Casper. Diabog stood up. Kenny pulled the ear plugs from her ears.

“Damn it.” She said smiling. 

Bielebog’s head de-morphed from Diabog as they walked over to the wounded, “Don’t you EVER... FUCKING DISMEMBER YOUR LIMBS IN MY BODY AGAIN, THATS SO FUCKING GROSS! What the fuck dude!”

“Mercury would have done it. He can grow his own limbs back and his temporary limbs are exceptionally dangerous. Gotta give you a real taste of what we are up against. He won’t pull punches. He won't hold back. He gets nothing from a prolonged fight, he enjoys the thrill of being better than everyone and killing them to prove it.”

“Jesus.” Casper coughed.

The Twins remerged their head back into Diabog who responded “This is an overwhelming gap in our will, and in our physical capabilities.”

“Yes… it is.” Kenny concluded.

Everyone took a few days to recover. Diabog cartrized Ash’s dismembered limbs to stop the bleeding. Once Casper was well enough to shift other people. He reattached Kenny’s limbs. Kenny and Ash talked a lot while they rested. Ash was better than most. Casper had managed to heal her more serious injuries when he changed her back into her true physical form. She just liked giving Kenny the company. Kempachi heard about the aftermath and about the Win. Between all of them, they felt like maybe they just might have just enough firepower to match mercury. 

Kenny wasn't so sure. Kenny was afraid.


	30. Chapter 10: Where Two Ends of a Loop Come Together: Forever and Ever.

August 14th, 2023. Kenny awoke and stretched ready to take on the day, it was earlier than she usually got up - but today she needed to take a round trip into the past. She knew how things would fall into place for her past self in the future, for her the mystery lied in the past. She took several deep breaths and walked out into the living room. Kempachi, Casper and Diabog were there conversing quietly to themselves. 

“Morning?” She announced.

They looked up at her. “Kenny! Perfect timing.” Dibog walked swiftly to her and brought her to the table they were all talking over. Upon the mahogany was the sample of the corrosion they took from Mercury’s gun.

“We figured out that Mercury’s corrosion is a biological component.” Casper poked the glass dish that held it, in the form they were able to collect, it resembled a fine powder. Red in color, and tinted with black, the closer Kenny got to the powder the more uneasy she became.

“What does that mean for us?”

“We were under the assumption that his powers were part of him like Casper’s shape shifting. We were at least half right, it’s part of a biological component made from DNA. We have confirmed that it’s part of his body.” Kempachi said

“Okay. You just said a lot of things, and you haven’t gotten to the...” Kenny began.

“But...” Kempachi continued, “We don’t know that it’s his. We have no DNA to test it against him.”

“Why would that matter?” Kenny asked "Also can't we just assume they are his powers? I don't see anyone else like him around here."

“We need to understand how his powers work in order to fight it. There's also the possibility that someone is pulling his strings. A puppet master so to speak.” Diabog stated calmly. “His powers leave traces like dead skin cells. Like you’ve told us, if we cut off his arm he will grow it back. So how can the cells die if they can regenerate at such an excessive rate?”

“Maybe the cells intentionally kill themselves off so they can grow newer stronger cells? The limbs he leaves behind don’t continue living. So maybe once it leaves his body it no longer functions?” Kenny proposed.

“That’s what I thought, however that leaves more questions than answers.” Casper started “First of all if it's true that his cells die once they leave his body then we have a few possibilities for how this corruption works.

1\. He was born with the abilities and the source is some kind of nucleus that powers them and keeps him alive. Then when his cells separate from the power source they die. If this is the case we could find and destroy the nucleus and it would kill him.  
2\. He wasn’t born with them and the corruption is some kind of parasite that controls him. And fuels his need for violence and blood. This one isn’t much different but the cells would be different from his DNA and thus killing the Parasite wouldn’t kill him. It would, however, cut him off from his powers making him vulnerable. Then we could kill him.  
3\. The corruption is a cancer. It grows and festers and even if we got rid of it it would probably grow back even stronger. The only option is to eradicate every cell in his body.  
”

Kenny looked at the others briefly, “Okay so how can we figure out what it is?”

“We would need some of his blood. With his blood we could compare his DNA, if the corruption matches then we would know it’s not a parasite.” Diabog explained.

“Actually. I have a better idea.” Casper interjected. “I can get close to him. If I touch him for long enough I can scan his body for all three possibilities.”

“That’s too risky.” Kenny straightened up.

“Not if he doesn’t know I’m there.” He morphed his head to be entirely invisible.

“The minute you touch him he will know where you are. We don’t know what effect your shape shifting would have on his corruption. You can’t risk using your shapeshifting on him.” Kenny snapped back.

“Correct, however on the other side of the coin because the corruption that fuels his powers are biological it's possible I might be able to shapeshift his DNA to eliminate his powers entirely. I could make him human!”

“If it's a parasite you wouldn’t be able to remove it. Until the parasite is dead,” Diabog suggested.

“Correct, and I can’t kill cells only shape them, however we would know it’s a parasite at that point and we would have a way to kill him. To be honest I can't say I've ever tried shapeshifting a cancer before. It's still worth a try in my mind.”

Kenny sighed and put her palms on the table and stared at the powder.

“Okay,” she conceded. “We can work it into the battle strategy.”

“In the meantime we need to work on finding Mercury’s base.” Kempachi added.

“I know where it is.” Kenny said calmly.

“From your fight with Mercury?” Diabog asked.

“No, we find him over the course of the next three days.” She pulled a chair out from the table and took a seat.

“Oh right, you need to go into the past today. Have you known where the base is this whole time then?” Diabog looked at Kenny with a bit of frustration.

“Yes, I can’t tell you where it is and I couldn’t go there. I didn’t want to risk losing our advantage. We won’t need to worry about it soon though. While I’m gone find the base with past Kenny. There’s a few details we need to engineer to make sure I only experience what I remember. Diabog de-morph back to the twins. I’m going to meet you for the first time, so be prepared for that. Second Kempachi, Casper, I never met you while I was here. So you two should help the investigation from the shadows.”

The two looked at each other and shrugged.

“We will make it work!” Kempachi beamed.

“Last order of the morning business, Kenny gets forced out of her body by Caleb. I know how to move between my body’s on my timeline so long as I’m in an open Ley Line. When I was in college Caleb was a leaky gas pipe of Chronomatic Energy so eventually he taught me how to switch when I was around him. I need to be in a Ley Line to switch correctly.” She looked to the others “I’m not sure where to find a Ley Line around here. I knew about Tempe because of Caleb and I knew about Zion because of… well. A zodiac.”

Diabog turned his head sharply “Which one?”  
“I don’t know, she didn’t tell me and I didn't see a sign on her body. She was a bit of a bitch. She was in one of the Ley Lines. Caleb took me to her so we could try to save all of my friends without me dying. She told me she wouldn’t get involved.”

“I see.” Diabog pondered a moment. “She knew you wouldn’t take Caleb’s deal and you would need to access the Zion Ley Line it would seem.”

“Maybe, she mentioned it more casually like ‘This Ley Line is nearly empty you should think about moving to Utah, Zion’s Line is brimming with energy.’ I didn’t think twice about it.”

“Probably Aquarius, she is hopeless.” Casper jabbed.

“It doesn’t matter honestly, it’s beside the point. We need a Ley Line so I can swap.”

“Why not just go to the garden?” Kempachi suggested.

“That’s not a bad idea.” Diabog placed a thoughtful hand on his chin.

“That’d be fine, but I woke up here. So make sure to bring me back here. I didn’t see the forest while I was here.” She stretched and let out a tired yawn, she definitely had woken up too early.

“Okay, we will go there once Ash wakes up. Kenny, the best way to get a human into the forest is in their sleep so you should probably go back to bed.” Kempachi stood up.

She nodded “That won’t be difficult.” She let out an exhausted yawn.

**************

Kenny awoke and stretched ready to take on the day: again. She was in the forest house where she was standing the last time she was here. In the middle of the kitchen, at the top of the Tree itself. The wind blew through the branches and maple leafs. The leafs danced into the house and around her. Fluttering by her arms and legs tickling her face as they rejoiced in her re-arrival. The trail of wind blew out the door beckoning her to follow. She looked around, the others were nowhere to be found. She jogged out the door and saw the trail dancing in a spiral, waiting for her. She followed the wind as it led her to an archway made from old, stiff, grey wood covered in vines. Beyond the archway was a wall of wood sticking up out of the top of the tree.

She pressed her hand to the cold petrified tree. After a moment the wood faded to reveal a platform inside a small room. She stepped inside and the tree regrew the wall behind her. The room in which she found herself lit up with fireflies and the platform she was standing on began to descend. It started slowly and grew faster and faster, it eventually stopped speeding up but it still took 15 minutes for the platform to stop moving. The wall reopened. She was in a massive room, a hub station of the tree. It was brightly lit (But where the light came from your guess is as good as mine.) In this room Ash, Casper, Kempachi and Diabog all waited for her.

The Hub had a giant wood like terminal in the center of the room. It was mostly empty but she felt energy swirling through every atom in her body. 

“Kenny!” Ash called “Come on!”

Kenny nodded and walked toward the group. Her body practically burned with an aura that she had never felt before.

“Welcome to your room.” Kempachi said as Kenny stood in front of them. 

“This place makes me feel weird. I can’t really describe it.” She touched the rim of the wood terminal, it was soft, she could feel the tree breathing life into her finger tips. She pulled her hand away with a sharp rejection of the feeling.  
“The tree is calling to its other half. It’s been sleeping, waiting. It’s almost sad to think it will need to wait a bit longer before it can wake.” Diabog’s face grew solemn and sad. “You should be able to switch at any time here.”

“You will be okay Kenny!” Ash said cheerfully. She grabbed Kenny’s hand. “Just don’t forget me okay!”

She nodded in response, “I won’t forget you. I need you here, remember!” she smiled and gave Ash a big hug squeezing her tightly.

“I’ll see you all in a few days time.” Kenny turned and looked at Ash “I love you.”

And then she fell unconscious.

********************

Kenny opened her eyes to find that she wasn’t in the living room of her home in Arizona. She sat up slowly and looked around her house.

“Damn you Caleb.” she whispered aloud. “Where the hell did you put me this time.” She looked around the mostly empty room. She saw two backpacks on the ground at the side of the bed. One belonged to her.

She looks round the bed and finds her phone next to her pillow. She opened it. “August 14th. 2023. That’s not too far off from where I’m at.” She stood from the bed and gained her bearings. “Caleb.” she called softly. “Caleb, where are you? Where am I?” No response, nothing happened. Kenny groaned. “I can’t believe you are trying to fuck with me again.” She left the room and traversed downstairs, to find Bielebog, Czernobog and Ash all eating lunch at a table that was being used to hold crates of ammunition for automatic rifles. 

Kenny’s first instinct was to be surprised maybe even angry, however Ash was sitting with them. Her trust in Ash overpowered her fears in this moment. Kenny calmly and quietly sat in a chair that appeared to be specifically for her. An untouched plate of food sitting in front of her. Her mind remembers just eating breakfast less than an hour ago, but her stomach said she hadn’t eaten in at least half a day.

“Good morning Kenny.” Ash said. “You feelin' alright.”

“Y… Yeah I guess.” Kenny sighed, She wasn’t sure how to approach this situation. She'd never told anyone that she could jump through time. She stuck to her guns opting to try to remain anonymous, but this would be difficult considering her limited knowledge of the people around her as well as her limited knowledge of the time frame she was in. Her last memory was watching the terror attack. Absolutely sure that this had to be connected she spoke up. 

“Have we made any progress on trying to stop another attack?” Kenny vocalised. Bielebog burst out laughing, Czernobog squinted at him in frustration.

“You are being rude Bielebog.” Czernobog scolded. “Apologize.”

“I’m sorry but she is trying so hard. Look you don’t gotta pretend everything is fine. We already know about the switch, calm down, loosen up or something.” Bielebog winked and shot finger guns toward her. 

Czernobog sighed at him. 

“You already… know?” she squinted at her food. “Are you friends with Caleb?”

“I think friends is a loose term considering who you are referring to.” Czernobog outstretched a hand, “I’m Czernobog, my twin brother is Bielebog. We are Celestial Zodiac Stars.”

They all caught Past Kenny up with what little information they could provide her, just enough information to have a head start. They explained about the Chrono weapons rapidly draining the Yggdrasil, and about the mass distribution and upcoming war. Ash explained that she willingly swapped with herself when Caleb forced her out of her body.

“My consciousness needed somewhere to go or I'd be floating in a void until someone took me to a Ley Line.” She confirmed.

“No one would have known to do that without your say so. But this comes with some benefits. We have been able to stay somewhat a step ahead of Mercury and his Chrono Illuminati.”

“So what’s the plan then? How long am I going to be swapped?”

“Well we have today, tomorrow, and finally the day after you swap back. As for the plan, in that time we are going to be looking for their base.” Ash explained.

“Okay, well you guys should take point or something cause I don’t really know what’s going on.”

They nodded. “As you wish, we are waiting for some of our guys to get back to us. They are out searching for a lead.” Bielebog noted.

“Who?” Kenny asked.

“We run a Coke and weapons smuggling gang as well as a strip club. We have a lot of resources.” Czernobog smiled eerily, his eyes glistening with emotion. 

Kenny was overwhelmed, her distrust in the stars sparked anxiety in her blood. Her thoughts grew confused and angry, she looked at the stars with frustration. “So clearly we know each other on a personal level.”

"Quite vividly." Czernobog replied. "You have been through quite an ordeal."

"Why do I trust you two?" Kenny was getting defensive and angry.

Bielebog cocked his head to the side and barked to his brother's side. "I’m not sure I understand." 

Ash watched this back and forth between Kenny and the Stars. It was the first time she'd seen Kenny so openly defensive. Guarding her secrets close to her chest. She'd always been secretive but this backed into a corner it was clearer to Ash just how little Kenny trusted anyone. It was different seeing her like this up front. 

Kenny side eyed Ash, "Are you a Star too?"

"No, I'm just along for the ride." Ash shrugged uncomfortably. The way Kenny was mentally arming herself put Ash on edge and spiked her anxiety.

"Okay." Kenny backed down from Ash and returned to her offense. “I’ve dealt with stupid supernatural shit a lot recently, and I want next to nothing to do with it all. Getting away from it was the whole point of moving out of Arizona to begin with. So why the fuck am I here with you two?”

“That’s a rather complicated question that we don’t entirely have the answer to.” Czernobog stifled an upsurge in sorrow.

“I told you that I’d let you all take point, but I want to make sure I know this isn’t some kind of trap. So tell me why not one of you would step in to save me from Caleb?” Kenny’s eyes were angry, but Ash saw a glisten that resembled an overflow of pain.

Czernobog looked at her sadly, but Bielebog spoke up “I’m not going to answer that question. I’ve already answered it.”

Kenny slowly regained her composure, her expression bled internal strife. “Alright, whatever.” She stood from the table, “I guess just let me know if we find anything out. I’m going to catch some fresh air.” She walked away. Ash contemplated following after but decided to wait a few minutes to give her some time alone. 

*******************

Czernobogs’ phone rang.

“Hello, Czernobog speaking.”

“Hey we found some CI Punks, we followed them down to their personal base. We are going to scrounge around for info on a bigger base, this one definitely isn’t where Mercury is hiding out.” Kempachi and Casper were out looking for a lead to send the others out to follow up on. They were coming up empty near the end of the first day.

“Let me know if you need back-up we can send some guys with guns. The Chrono Tech is lethal even to Bielebog so keep your distance.” Czernobog kicked his feet up onto the table.

“No problem. I’ll let you know.” Kempachi hung up.

Meanwhile.

Ash and Kenny were already several miles away.

****************

“Why did we sneak away Kenny?” Ash asked

“Because, Celestials are assholes. I’d know, The last one I talked to basically told me to get bent. We gotta get to a Ley Line and swap me back.”

“Do you know where to find one?” Ash asked.

“No, But I know who does. If we get close enough to a Ley Line we can find that bastard Caleb. He can swap me back.” Kenny pushed her foot harder on the pedal. They crossed into the Montana border. “Every state has at least one, we can find one here.”

“So we are just going to drive aimlessly? Even if we got close how do you know he will even show up?”

“What? Are you suddenly an expert on my stalker?”

Ash bit her lip. They sat quietly for a moment.

“That was uncalled for… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. This isn’t your fault.”

Ash took in Kenny’s apology for a moment. “I know you are stressed, there’s a lot we can’t tell you. I think you know that.”

“This is why I hate time travel. It makes secrets mandatory. It just makes trusting people harder.”

“I know. Just… you need to trust me at least. Even if you can’t get behind the stars right now that’s fine. But you need to trust that I’m not gonna do anything to hurt you. As much as I loath to say it but if you really can’t trust me right now then you should at the very least trust your future self.”

Kenny felt guilt crawl down her torso and settle in the pit of her stomach. “You are right, I’ve been a shithead today.”  
“Just a bit.” Ash expressed frankly. They both laughed softly. 

She looked at Kenny who was physically drained, bags under her eyes, frustration trembling in her lips. Kenny was scared. Running away from the future in more ways than one. Ash felt sorry for her. This was the weakest Ash had ever seen her, scared and trying desperately to find peace in anything.

“Kenny, How about you stop for a bit I’ll drive. You need some sleep.” Kenny looked at Ash and saw her sincerity.

“Okay sure. I could actually use some sleep.” They pulled over and swapped. “Thanks Ash. I’m sorry.”

“You are my girlfriend, it comes with the territory. I know there’s a lot out of your control. So take control of what you are able to.” Ash pressed their aimless journey onward. And Kenny fell asleep. While Kenny slept Ash received a chime on her phone.

Bielebog was texting her.  
\----  
B: Hey where did you guys go

A: Sorry Kenny ran off, I came with to make sure she  
A: Didn’t get into any serious trouble. Any updates?

B: None they hit a fuckin dead end. Where you two headed

A: We are in montana, she is looking for Caleb to  
A: Tear him a new asshole, not that i blame her  
A: We are a bit over our heads in doing nothing right now.  
A: Sorry. I’ll keep an eye out for any trouble.

B: Let me know if you need anything.

A: Actually can you tell me where montana’s Ley Line  
A: Asdfasd {{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{

B: Ash?

B: Ash?

B: ASH!!!  
______

Suddenly while sending the last text message something odd happened. Out of nowhere a man crossed into the road and stopped dead in front of their car.

Ash slammed on the breaks but it was too late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The text conversation was originally formatted to look like it was on a phone with dialog coming from either ends of the screen. didn't really work out on AO3


	31. Chapter 10 Intermission: A Sapling Blossoms in Ginnungagap

With the girls unconscious I wanted to take a breather. I wanted to vent. I’m angry. Kenny resonates this frustration with her whole being that i’ve spent my whole life resenting. The frustration of knowing what’s to come. The inability to deviate from that path.

Deviation from what we know only creates an unknown.  
So what would happen if 2 minutes ago I’d interfered to prevent the car accident?  
I know the answer. I have the control. And this comes to the core of my job. To control the flow. To lead us to the best outcome. What if there is no best outcome? What if every outcome I see is flame? What do I do when every outcome kills everyone I loved? How far down each turn should I be looking to prevent disaster? Should I only intervene in the immediate threats and dangers? But what if my immediate solution creates a worse situation later that causes more death and more pain?

There are trillions of timelines, and those are just the ones I’ve seen. There're quadrillions I haven’t, With that many possibilities how am I supposed to make the right choice? My point here is still related to that deviation. I can’t see how my deviation will alter the future even if I know the immediate next 10 years. Maybe this deviation starts a problem 30 years from now.

Let’s think back to the prologue. One deviation caused a derailment and an apocalyptic scenario 40 years later. What if I’d interfered then? How would things be different? Would they be different?

So how do I choose? If you want an answer think about what would happen if we gave this power of deviation to the wrong person. Let’s say for a moment we gave this power to a dictator? They could use this power to ensure they could see every possible scenario in which they could maintain their control over their people, holding them under an iron thumb incapable of escape. That is at least one perspective. What if the best way to maintain control over their people made them slowly into a better person who more greatly cared for the people they governed? Either is theoretically possible is it not? I’m answering questions with more questions so at last i reach my point and the penultimate answer to the question.

How do I choose what path we follow?  
I don’t. 

Hands off. I don’t touch anything. I observe and learn, but I no longer interfere. I spent hundreds of thousands of years trying to guide and always ran into these issues, the best solution I’ve always found was to let them guide themselves and to disconnect from it. The disconnect is actually the easiest part. The longer my powers are active the less empathy and sympathy I feel for those who live within my control. There were times I’d gone entirely hollow from observing and had to be pulled back from my senses. Only when my senses have been down for a long time will I go back to feeling.

To tell the truth page one was when I’d turned my senses on for the first time in a while. I still have plenty of feelings to go around. Right now my heart is telling me I need to take a stand, try to stop things. Confront a villain. Save my friends, take control. That brings me to the theme of this intermission.  
______  
The rest of this chapter is redacted, i apologize for the inconvenience - Zazzy  
\-----  
Wh…...where is my left eye?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What happened to The Sagittarius? 
> 
> When i wrote this part the section that was redacted was written. i took the rest out and put it in a separate document and i put in its place a large formatted black box. but because that is a bit much for AO3, i've incorporated a line to explain that a redaction took place.
> 
> Thank you for your patience.
> 
> This chapter was named by Deadcanons, her settings wont allow me to list them as a co creator of this chapter though. i gave them this chapter to name because the theme was "lack of control". it would have felt like an in-genuine message if I'd given control of the title to the narrator who is by definition not in control of the chapter.


	32. Chapter 10 Part 2: A Baptism By Any Other Means Would Be Organized Religion.

Kenny would have woken up if she hadn’t also suddenly been knocked unconscious by the door she was resting her head on.

Ash had never met the man before and didn’t have a great sense of what had happened.

Ash’s entire body was shaken up. She quickly popped her seatbelt off. She watched calmly while Mercury pulled himself out of the crumpled remains of their hood.

“Jesus, I’m so… Sorry?” She was dazed and confused but she suddenly realised how odd it was for someone to get hit by a car and to be unscathed. She looked at him up and down. “Are you a Celestial?”

He looked at her bewildered. “No.” he whispered, pulling a Chrono Sword from a hilt. Ash didn’t feel fear, she looked at him calmly.

“Mercury then? Right?” She sat still ensuring she didn’t make a sudden move.

He smiled coldly, humorlessly, and nodded. He walked to the passenger side door. “I’ve been looking for her, we have a dispute to settle.”

“She doesn’t know you.” Ash replied, her muscles stiff still, praying he didn’t decide to end her right now. “This wasn’t supposed to happen.” she thought. “We fucked up.” 

He shrugged. “Easier for me I guess. One less person to challenge me. I will admit I don’t remember her either. I figured she would know me, she seemed to know me last we met.”

“You never kept any memory of the Time Loops. This version of Kenny hasn’t experienced it yet. She isn’t the opponent that you wanted to kill.”

Mercury looked in the window at the unconscious Kenny.

“I know what you are planning.” Ash continued. “Kill the Yggdrasil right?”

Mercury nodded, “Something like that.”

He was uncomfortably calm, stiff, and solemn.

“Is something wrong?” Ash asked. “You seem, different than what I’d pictured.”

Mercury's gaze drifted from Kenny to Ash. “No, nothing wrong just… disappointed. I wanted to understand her plight to kill me more fully. More completely. No one has ever gone to such extreme lengths to survive long enough to kill me. Now because of her I’ve come to doubt my strength. Killing her like… this… It does nothing to prove that I can handle the Yggdrasil. Those who sleep do not know of their own will to live. The point to killing is to snuff out that will. To prove your will is stronger than theirs. Even the screaming and fleeing have proven their worth. To kill her now… would be to render her life meaningless. Killing a meaningless life proves nothing.”

“Why do you care about becoming the Yggdrasil?” Ash asked. Her arms and legs were becoming sore from being so still for so long but she ignored the dull sensation trying with everything she had to keep him docile.

He walked slowly toward Ash, his corruptive aura began flickering and whipping through the air, slowly touching Ash's skin and stroking her hair. She could smell the rust and blood in the air.

“It doesn’t matter yet.” he said. “I met a man, he told me that with enough time and power and resources. With enough… Corruption. I would take back a life I simply can’t recall.” Mercury stood in front of Ash now looking down at her.

“What if you just chose to stop?” Ash asked. “Would it be so bad to abandon your past?”

Mercury smiled his deathly empty smile

“What good is remembering a past that doesn’t represent your present?”

“What does my present self represent?” he paused to breath deeply, “What will my future self represent? You act like your past doesn’t sway your present self. No matter how far from the past we are it will always matter to the people we become. My past removed my memories, and… changed me. I want to know what that was. I need to know.”

“I understand why you feel this way, but you must have thought at some point about trying to live a normal life. What were you doing before the man told you to find your past?”

“I was a soldier, I took a job that would allow me to feed my rage, to feed my corruption. I met him there.”

“Who is he?”

“God. I met God on a battlefield. He won.”

Ash was sure he believed every word he was saying, he had no reason to lie. He could kill her now, but he wouldn’t: hadn’t. Kenny lived to end the loop, she was sure Kenny would be fine. Her own fate was uncertain though. She needed to live to see Kenny when she would return.

“I’d prefer you wait to kill me, like you I still have things to do. You’ll still get to kill me another day if you wait.” Her calm was equivalent to Mercurys’, despite his aura crippling the air. Her breathing was still. They stood facing one another eye to eye. For a moment Ash wanted to believe they could understand each other.

He turned away from Ash, “I’ll wait for you both. There is an underground Cathedral in D.C. Find it, and bring the Yggdrasil. We will end this, with Godhood on the line.”

In a red flash Mercury was gone.

Ash stretched slowly, painfully down below the seat and found her cell phone was cracked but functioning. She began typing immediately.

A: Bielebog we are looking for an underground cathedral  
A: In D.C. can you come pick us up? our car is wrecked.

*************

Kenny woke up when Ash shook her shoulder, the twins were a few miles away and would be there soon.

“Hmm, what's up? My head is killing me.” Kenny sat up and saw the wreckage of their car from her seat. “What the hell?”

“Mercury crashed our car. I had to call the twins. They will be here soon. We are going to D.C.”

“What? Hold on, this is too much information right now. I don’t want the stars coming to help us.”

“I know but we have no options. You have to be in this body for another day and a half and we finally have a lead for Mercury’s hideout. Plus this car isn’t going anywhere ever again. I’m sorry I really am but I made the right call.”

Kenny sighed and looked at the ground.

“I trust them Kenny, I’ve been with them long enough to know they aren’t perfect but they are trying their best. Please I need you to trust me at least, if not them.”

Kenny unbuckled her seatbelt and rubbed her head. “Alright, I’ll try.”

Ash wrapped her arms around Kenny breathing lightly into her chest. Kenny hugged back and rested her face gently on Ash’s head. Kenny leaned back into the car and held Ash who started softly crying. Kenny didn’t ask why, she felt it in the air. Mercury’s presence was overwhelming even as a lingering energy.

The Halogen lights of a black SUV pulled up behind them. The twins stepped out and ran to them, rapid firing questions about their safety and their health. Kenny answered what she knew, and Ash relayed Mercury’s message about his motivations, the man, and about the Cathedral. 

“We need to get to a Ley Line to go to D.C.” Czernobog began, “Kenny, I need to be able to trust you enough to take you into a Ley Line without you trying to flee back to the past. Can you trust me enough to promise we will get you back when it is time? If not we will need to travel by plane which will eat up a significantly larger amount of time.”

Kenny looked at Ash, who gave her a pleading look. “Okay, I’ll trust you. I won’t jump ship.”

Czernobog smiled ecstatically, his aura forcing out Mercury’s. They all got into the car and began driving.

“We are off to Billing, Montana.” Bielebog called into the back seat. But it fell on deaf ears. The girls were unconscious holding each other gently as they slept.

****************

They awoke on the outskirts of Billing, on August 15th 2023 6 AM. The Root they intended to use was brimming with life. It was practically surrounding the city in a giant curl, if Kenny had ever attempted to come here on her own she very likely would accidentally walk right into it. She could see the silhouettes of Ley Lines. She knew their approximate locations and could feel their existence.

They walked together as Kenny extended her arm opening a rift into the Yggdrasil root. Czernobog led the group as they flowed through the stream. As they went Kenny began to feel sick to her stomach. The walls of the root began to slowly dim, as they swam through a root that was very apparently drained of its energy. But the dim didn’t stop the dim only grew to darkness as they went farther and farther into the root. Kenny got anxious and Ash could see the anxiety growing. The root began growing thick and black like a void when suddenly red veins began sprouting out of the walls pulsing and vibrating. Red sparks from invisible flames floated around them. The root was corrupted. They were heading straight towards Mercury who was well aware of their arrival to D.C.

They exited the Ley Line and they found themselves in Arlington National Cemetery.

*******************

They all made their way to a hotel. The day was short but they knew how to get to him now. He was connected directly to the Ley Line corrupting the root from the outside in. Unsure of exactly where the entrance was from the Cemetery Bielebog called Casper to head there and look for a door to a crypt.

They all got lunch while they waited for results. Czernobog had been doing his best to make Kenny feel less uncomfortable naturally, which was not entirely his forte.

The main problem was Kenny did not entirely understand why they were just waiting instead of looking for the entrance themselves.

“We can’t, if we stumble upon the door on accident Mercury will know. We are waiting for a more opportune moment to attack. Opportune being you being back in your real body. It’s safer to Have others look for the entrance. People who haven’t met Mercury directly yet.” Czernobog had told her, however it just made her frustrated, she hated being unable to understand events in the future fully. Safety was a mediocre reason to avoid telling her things.

Bielebogs phone rang, he stepped away from the table.

“What’s up?”

“Hey, Casper is heading to the national library to find documents that could show us where the entrance could be. It's not very apparent.” Kempachi sounded tired and frustrated.

“Is something the matter?” he offered.

“I’m just frustrated sitting on my ass, Caspers got shit to do you all are watching Kenny and making sure everything is square, I’m just sitting in a graveyard.”

“I think Kenny would feel similarly to you, she is mad about the inaction as well.”

“I’m antsy and this cemetery stinks of Mercury’s corruption. The grass is all dying and there isn’t a single person here.”

“Yeah, you came out of the root too, you know what is happening here. The corruption is thick. It wouldn’t surprise me if he was corrupting other roots to influence the government in multiple countries. Enough negativity influencing a root can make some fucking evil shit happen.” Bielebog sighed. “One problem at a time right Kempachi?”  
“Yeah, I guess so. I’m gonna get something to eat, I guess. Stay safe.”

*Click*

Kenny was behind him when he turned around.

“Yeah?” He said.

“You didn’t answer my question back at the house. Why did you let Caleb keep me locked in a time loop.”

“I won’t answer you, I’ve already answered that question. Sorry, you’ll just need to wait for an answer.”

****************

Casper was on their own bender, they loved to rob places with high security however they didn’t have the luxury to make this a challenge. They vowed to come back another day to steal even more classified records later. They stayed invisible for the mass majority of the heist. Sneaking through the gates was easy when no one knew you were there. The trick was to stay behind people who were already going places. Staying behind people opening doors for example. With cameras everywhere a door opening on its own would raise suspicion. They needed to find blueprints for secret locations. It took almost all night. The library was locked up the only ones still there were night security, they made a point to stalk guards going through high security doors the more security required to get in the more secret the documents inside. Then they got to the Architectural Archive.

Inside he spent a while just trying to figure out the system of filing they were using. By the time they got the right document the library was close to reopening in the morning. A switch located on a grave marked “M. A. G.”.

“M.A.G.? Mercury’s Initials?” They thought to themself.

“I need to tell the others.” Casper stood up and began their exit of the library on August 16th 2019. Once they exited the library he called the others

“Bielebog. Listen I think I found it. There is a stone with a switch on it in the back of the cemetery.”

“Sounds good, meet up with Kempachi at the forest. We will be there with Kenny in roughly a few hours.”

Kenny and the others were at a hotel about to leave to take Kenny back to the Ley Line to send her back to the past. Kenny had gotten used to being around the stars, and was more used to Ash’s extra affection. She was also growing used to being deliberately told she couldn’t have extra information; as frustrating as it was.

Kenny was strangely content with having been in the future despite the problems. She had been trying to think about things from their perspective, they needed to have everything pre-orchestrated to make sure she didn’t change their present and her future.

They made their way out the door and back to the cemetery. Kenny opened the Rift, it was black and pulsing violently. It made her feel squeamish and anxious. Despite this they all entered the rift. Swimming upward toward a non corrupted section of root. 

“Kenny. It’s time to go back.” Bielebog announced. Calmly his pink hair waving softly in the stream.

“You still won’t answer my question will you.” She asked.

“Not until you go back. Sorry, It’s in the rules.” He reached his hand out to shake hers. She met him with a mutually respectful handshake. 

“Czernobog, I’m sorry if I was being a brat the whole time. I’m not used to… people knowing about me. I've felt really disoriented. Especially since I haven't seen Caleb.” she extended a handshake to him as well.

She turned to Ash and gave her a hard hug. "Thanks for being here. Will I see you when I wake up?"

Ash nodded. "You are gonna wake up at the Gemini. It'll be safe. I'm the one that is on edge at that time period.”

“Fair, you’ve had time to adjust to the bullshit now. I’d be more used to it if my experiences weren’t total shit.”

“It gets… well maybe not better, but it gets easier to handle with your friends.” Ash kissed Kenny gently, “I’ll see you when you get back.”

Then Kenny fell unconscious, floating lightly through the stream.  
Bielebog and Czernobog fuzed to Diabog and picked up Kenny.

“Come on, we are going to go to the forest. The door is open if we travel up the stream we should come out in the forest.” he said calmly.

“How we get into the forest is really convoluted.” Ash mentioned. “We can get there with the Ley Lines, but we can also accidentally get there in a dream, but we can also get there through a door?”

“The forest is alive, it’s part of the Yggdrasil. It opens to people when they are important or needed there. That is how it can be accessed with sleep. The door exists in a void outside of our universe. There is no way for mortals to access the forest that way. Kenny accessed the door in a dream however she isn’t exactly mortal either. The Ley Lines are the Yggdrasil roots in the mortal plane, invisible inaccessible, but ever present. There are many ways to the forest, with the right Zodiac we could just open a portal and be there so long as the forest isn’t repelling outside magic forces.”

“Why didn’t we go get the Zodiac with the portals? They seem helpful.” She suggested.

“She wouldn’t help, she likes to be left well enough alone. Though if Æsir’s prophecy is to be believed we will need to gather all 13 Zodiac soon. If something is stronger than Mercury we need to be ready, That man you told us about. If they are pushing for Mercury to do this, there is no telling what they might do if we stop him. We need to be prepared for anything.” Diabog outstretched an arm and a new rift opened into the forest.

“I’ve been meaning to ask, is there anyone that you all do deem to be a being called ‘God’?”

Diabog stepped out into the forest and without turning around simply said “I don’t know.”

***************

Kenny awoke in the late evening, in the center of the Yggdrasil Room. Kempachi was waiting for her there.

“Morning sunshine, How was the past?”

Kenny sat up and groaned. “I’m fucking tired from the jump, but… I guess it was alright. I got to get some kind of closure with Caleb.”

“We have his body with us, by the way, we haven't had a chance to bury him. Casper has been preserving him for you when you were ready to have a funeral.”

She nodded. “Yeah, this forest would be a good place to bury him… probably too good for him. But he lived here his whole existence basically - so I guess there is no reason not to.”

“Yeah, but that can wait.” Kempachi smiled. “I’m here to teach you how to accept your powers.” He pointed to the terminal.

“I figured as much, do I just put my hand on it?” She stood, and walked to the terminal.

“Not exactly, it’s much more complicated.” Kempachi walked to Kenny and put his hand on her shoulder. “Push your aura into the terminal to turn it on. Think of it like a fingerprint password except the fingerprint is your life energy.”

“I don’t know how to move my aura.” She explained.

Kempachi laughed a bit, “That’s what I’m here for. It’s easier than you’d think. Just drop your guard, become vulnerable. Relax, feel everything around you.”

Kenny closed her eyes and relaxed as best she could. She felt wound up and tense.

“You are trying to force it, don’t you need to be completely open. Whatever is bothering you push it aside and think only about your aura, what does it feel like, look like, smell like.”

Kenny tried to stop thinking about other things. She opened up a bit more but there were still lingering doubts.

“Kenny, describe to me your aura. Tell me what it’s telling you.”

She took a deep breath and thought about her body, and the sensations of the stillness around her. Then she felt something.  
“It's orange. It’s soft and warm, and has a smooth flowing texture. I can’t see anymore.”

“Okay, What’s something that brings you unconditional comfort, think of something or someone you can be completely vulnerable with.” Kempachi let go of her shoulder and took a few steps back.

“Ash.” she said softly, as she envisioned Ash in the room with them. Holding her softly from behind in a warm embrace. Tears welled up in her eyes and the calm washed over her, her guard falling to the wayside. “It smells like maple, and honey.” she said, and put her hands on the terminal.

The Yggdrasilian terminal lit up with a bright orange aura. Every light that swam through the air in the room lit up brighter and brighter. The wind outside howled and shook the branches and lifted the leaves from the ground. Everything began shaking.

Kempachi smiled brightly and swam his fingers through the air. He could feel Kenny’s energy flowing through the tree as the rough rock hard wood slowly began to change colors from grey to a bright oak brown. Vines regrew and draped themselves from the ceiling, grass and flowers began growing from the ground.

Outside - the fallen broken branches lifted and reattached to the tree, the brown dead leaves became green and stiff fruit sprouted from flowers on the tree. Animals danced through the forest as the foliage came suddenly to life. For a brief moment everything changed.and she began to look at the world through the eyes of the forest. She watched through every bird how fluid the florist swayed with the wind, she felt the gallop of the deer, the bears scratched at trees to mark where they had been, she let out a roar with the lions, and slithered with snakes through tree branches. Her vision expanded as she watched through the eyes of earth. She was flooded by what she could only describe as a screen of eyes. The sensations overwhelmed her, too many views were breaking through at once. Some particular sensations became increasingly more distracting. She tried to calm her breathing to focus on just one screen at a time. She pinpointed a flock of birds flying over Tempe, Arizona. She could tell the connection there was weak. She could feel the dying in the root. She shifted her focus to a feeling and began feeling through the leaves of a shrub on the White House lawn. She shifted again to the feeling of a bonsai tree looking in on a stranger who was relaxing beside their open apartment window in Shibuya, Japan. She parsed through the screens again to find she could look through the eyes of people. One that caught her eye was a man who was throwing bricks in Hong Kong. The brinks were aimed at angry thugs holding Chono Weapons and evaporating people to the man's left and right. His vision flashed and she found herself rapidly suffocating out in space. He had been sent into the past. The planet was no longer where he had been standing so he was aimlessly thrown to his death. She felt a tear fall down her cheek. She couldn’t tell if it was hers - or his. She changed vision and expanded her view window into the past and the present. She zoomed out and thought of her parents. She tried to concentrate on the day they found her.

They were driving, she was driving. Her father in the passenger seat. She could see him, it was 1996. Her mother was nervous, and beautiful. 

“Have you considered our conversation?” he asked.

Valerie looked at him briefly then returned her eyes to the road. “I don’t know Marcus, It’s expensive to adopt. You know that you only have a small chance to have kids.”

He was quiet. “I know.” was all he said. 

She sighed. “I’d like to be a parent. I would, I just don’t want to be disappointed.”

They drove in the quiet for sometime, when the silence was broken by a tiny squeak. Marcus turned curiously to the sound. And saw what looked like a hand carved wooden basket. The basket was so finely crafted that he was shocked by the shape and designed. At first he didn’t even notice it’s contents. It has swirls of multi colored wood tracing the borders of the basket, it looked to be made of a vast number of thin branches that intertwined and swirled together, branches of many different sizes and shapes. The handle weaved effortlessly from either side of the basket made with the exact same branches that made up the basket's body. Leaves coated the top of the handle and two red flowers blooms had blossomed on either side. 

The basket let out a soft ‘coo’ and a babble. Marcus looked into the basket to reveal its contents. Kenny sat quietly, and calmly within, the note with her name pinned to the side of the basket by her fragile body.

“Hey Val. I think we need to pull over.”

“What's wrong?” she turned herself and immediately turned back to the road in a near panic. “Marcus… how did a child end up in our back seat?”

“It’s definitely an odd coincidence. Did we lock our car door when we got out for dinner?”  
“I’d like to think so, how did we not notice? It’s been so quiet.”

“Her name is Kenny Ramasama?” Marcus exclaimed.

“Okay… We need to take her to the station… they will know what to do.”

Kenny pulled from the vision.

Inside, Kempachi shouted at Kenny, her concentration broke and she was back to the moment of reality. “Kenny, You are doing great, you should have had several visions. Right now you need to feel the Yggdrasil’s aura. It’s intertwining with yours, you’ve given your aura to the tree now let the tree give it’s aura to you.”

She dropped her aura and the terminal became bright green and smooth as stone. It crawled up Kenny’s fingertips and up her arms soon covering her body in its light. She absorbed it in its entirety. The aura was cool and vibrant. It pulsated around her and soaked itself into her skin, it coated her lips and got under her fingernails. It swirled into the iris of her eyes. Everything became brighter, sensations became more acute. She was lighter and she felt infinite.

Once the aura’s faded Kenny stepped back from the Terminal. She was dizzy and weightless. She dropped to one knee exhausted and began trying to catch her breath.

Kempachi was overflowing with a feeling he’d never experienced, and felt his eyes well up with tears. He wiped his eyes but the feeling was overpowering him. Kenny looked at him.

“Are you… alright… over there… ” She asked gasping for air every few words.

He nodded at her. “I’m alright.”

****************

Kenny and Kempachi met everyone at the base of the tree. Caleb was lying peacefully on the ground. To Kenny he looked exactly like he had when he died. Flowers were growing around him giving him a peaceful, beautiful, appearance. Everyone stood together in silence in a kind of mourning. After a few moments Kenny stepped forward. She hadn’t planned anything to say. But she felt the urge to say something… anything.  
“Caleb… was a special kind of monster. He was born into circumstances beyond his control. All he ever wanted was to be able to grow old and live a mortal life. He did a lot of fucked up things to get that. Hell, for the longest time I just felt like another victim of the pain he caused so many people. He betrayed me.” She stopped and took a breath to clear her mind. “He also wanted to save the world. He gave up his dreams of becoming mortal so that he could give us a chance. He obsessed over me constantly yet he actually let me live my life with Ash. He wasn’t perfect. He wasn’t even a good person… but he did a good thing. I don’t know what is going to happen. But we have this chance thanks to you Caleb. I’m sorry you had to be a casualty to get us here. I hope you can rest once this is over. For better or worse… I’ll never forget you.”

Kempachi patted her shoulder, and Ash grabbed her hand in comfort.

Kenny relaxed, pouring her aura into the ground below her feet. The ground began to shift slightly pulling Caleb slowly into the ground. Quietly. Peacefully. The flowers that had grown around him grew bigger and more beautiful as tree roots sealed the hole closed. Dialog placed a bouquet on the grave and stepped away quietly. Everyone stood together in silence once again. After 15 minutes they all went back to the house. 

**************************

They walked into the house where Casper, Diabog, and Ash were waiting. They had made dinner, and were sitting around a cute wooden table. A weight they never knew they felt had been lifted from their shoulders. They ate and laughed and talked about anything and everything. Casper even joked that they needed to add a Bar to the forest. Until eventually those who needed it went to bed. First Kempachi went to bed, then Casper, Diabog finished dishes then dismissed himself. 

“How do you feel? Being the official Yggdrasil and all.” Ash asked

“It’s… incredible. I’m not tired, I’m weightless. I feel like I can topple a city with a single glance.” Kenny stood up and was exaggeratedly moving her arms for emphasis. “I feel like every part of me can feel every part of everything else in the universe. That’s the best way to describe it.”

“What can you feel about me?” Ash smiled.

Kenny leaned in and whispered into her ear. Ash blushed and laughed.

“I’m gonna head to bed. Did you want to come?” Ash stretched an arm out in invitation. Kenny took her hand and they went to bed.

********

After Ash had fallen asleep Kenny considered the phone call from Chapter 3. For her it was hardly any time at all since it’d occurred. She processed the tail end of her conversation.

"Well. I know it will probably sound a bit late but you might need to know."

"Come on mom. Whatever it is I think it will be fine."

“You were adopted.”

“Oh,” Kenny thought about it, she’d heard it from her mother's mouth now. In a way it felt like a relief. “Yeah, I already know.”

“Y-You do?” Val was startled. “How did you find out?”

“It’s kind of complicated. I met my Biological Father.”

“What? How? When?” Val was uneasy, they’d never even attempted to locate the biological parents. They’d moved back and forth between states for work. How was he able to find and contact Kenny especially after they’d changed her last name.

“It’s very complicated.” Kenny was unsure of how much she could tell her mother. She wanted to help her understand but she wasn’t sure how she would respond.

“Is he why you came back from college so mentally exhausted?”

“No, nothing like that. Well… I mean… not directly anyway.”

“What does that mean?”

“I think… I’m okay enough to explain, but I’m not sure you will believe me, or that you’ll be okay with it.”

“I’ll listen.”

Kenny explained Caleb, she explained her relationship to time. She explained why she left, she explained the existence of the celestials, and she told her story to her mother. It was as condensed and as brief as she could make it.

“My Biological father Kempachi, is a good person. I think if we survive this he will want to meet you.” Kenny concluded.

“Fucking hell.” Val didn’t know how to make sense of the whole story. She took a deep breath. “You must feel like the whole world is on your shoulders.”

“Yeah… a little bit… this isn’t exactly how I wanted my life to go.”

“When will you be home?” concern reverberated through her words.

“For you, it will be in August. For me it’ll be in 2 days give or take.”

“I guess that will give me and your dad time to prepare.”

“Anyway.. I know it’s been a bit heavy but I need to go, Ash will be out of the bathroom soon. And we still have quite a ways to go.”

“I love you Kenny.”

“I love you too, you are still my mom no matter what. I’ll see you soon. I hope.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I fucking love this chapter title, sorry back to the story.


	33. Postscript 2: Cooled Lava Minding Its Own Business.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter incorporates a location that for all intents and purposes does not belong to me, it belongs to my friend. I've been given permission to use it. Deadcanons settings doesn't allow me to use them as a co-creator, but they are the idea man for the bar. please give them the credit. and also support their endeavor to utilize the bar in their truest way.

Postscript 2: Cooled Lava Minding Its Own Business.

Kenny couldn’t sleep, she wasn’t tired. It was odd that she didn’t even have an urge or desire to sleep. She felt like she had so much time. She didn’t want to leave the bed with her girlfriend. So she opened her phone. Scrolling through social media, she found it funny that there was cellular reception in the forest of all places. As she scrolled she saw an ad that caught her eye it was an advertisement for someplace called “5th Wall Bar and Grill.” The image in the ad had a dark background with a door open ever so slightly as if to suggest one should enter. She inspected the address.

HTTPS://*Inserthyperlink*

She clicked the link softly - reserved. The door on the advert opened slowly and completely. A wooden floor and bartender standing at a simple looking Mahogany bar counter staring through the door with a pleasant smile. The ad zoomed into the door and as the image zoomed so did Kenny’s vision until she couldn’t see the rims of an advertisement but was instead standing in the bar: inside the door.

“I’m sorry what?” She argued. She turned around and pointed at the door. And then turned back and pointed at the bartender. “That was weird!” She concluded and then slapped her hand on the bar counter.

“My sincerest apologies madam. Most of our customers already are familiar with the bar and it’s precedings.” He smiled sincerely and waved an open palm around the bar. “Please feel free to sit anywhere we have quite a few seats this evening.”

Kenny pulled a stool out from the main bar. “Here is fine.” She said skeptically. 

“What can I get you, we have a house special on Uncle Fucker”

“Excuse me?” Kenny leaned in baffled and confused. 

“It’s a beer so potent it’ll make even your sleaziest uncle appear fuckable.”

Kenny paused mouth agape.

“If you aren’t careful a Bar-Fly might zoom right in there!” The bartender teezed with a wink.

“That’s insulting!” A large humanoid Fly-Creature slapped his hand on his table. Kenny blinked in astonishment at the fly, then turned back to the Bartender.

“Just give me a Gin and Coke” She sighed. The bartender nodded and began preparing her drink. She looked around the bar, there were very few patrons but most appeared to be sitting alone, almost none were human looking as far as she could see. They all looked mysterious or alien.

“So what is this place exactly?” Kenny asked the bartender as he put her drink down.

“Fifth Wall Bar and Grill. We are a bar outside the confines of any universe. We exist on our own in a void of sorts. I won’t expand further on that outside of when time comes due to pay your tab. As it’s another person's job to explain more. I will not encroach on her right to explain further to her audience.” He began cleaning glasses and mugs with a soft cloth.

“... Got it...” Kenny didn’t get it.

She took a sip of her drink and then took another look around the bar in a far corner she saw the first human outside of her and the bartender. She picked up her drink and walked slowly over to their table. It was a boy with dark brown hair and glasses. But he wasn’t wearing the glasses. He was wearing a dirty long sleeve shirt. A typewriter to his right with a ream of about 30 or 40 pages next to it. 

“Do you mind if I sit?” asked Kenny.

He looked at her briefly and shrugged. She took that as an okay, placed her glass, and sat across the table from him.

“Sorry you are just the only human I’ve seen here so far outside the bartender.” she noted.

“The bartender isn’t human, none of the servers here are. They just look like it. To us that is.” The boy explained.

She sighed, “Of course, if I wind up somewhere weird I really should expect weird shit to be happening.”

He didn’t respond, I’m not sure that he knew how to respond to her. Maybe he just didn’t care. He was sad, frustrated, pent up. Kenny noticed it but she couldn't read him. She chalked it up to not knowing how her powers work. That wasn’t the case however, it was because he wasn’t from her universe.

“I’m Kenny. What’s your name?”

He didn’t respond at first, “Igneous Trant” he replied eventually. 

“Nice to meet you Igneous. What brings you to… well… here I guess.”

“I’m… I came here of my own volition.”

“I kinda just ended up here.”

He shrugged, “Whatever, just don’t forget your tab before you go.”

She wasn’t getting through to him, she could tell something was eating at him. “You seem pretty down, are you doing alright?”

“I’d be better if I was more drunk, but part of me wants to feel what I’m feeling. Part of me wants to remember this loss and pain.” He raised his hand and a waitress walked over to the table. “Anything I can get you?”

“Knappogue Castle, 16 Year, Single Malt, please.” He put his hand down.

“I’ll add it to your tab.” She walked away for the time being.

“Who did you lose?” Kenny pushed.

“No offense but I don't want to talk about it. Not to you anyway.”

“Sorry to pry. I’ll drop it, we can talk about something else.”

“What do you do?” He asked politely.

“I’m… well… I’m a Yggdrasil.” She said slowly.

“Like the tree?” He asked

“The same. Well… basically. I was born Yggdrasil and raised as a human. I just took the mantle today.”

“Congratulations, I guess. What’s the point of a Yggdrasil anyway?”

“Well, to the best of my knowledge I’m supposed to fill my universe with the essence of time.” 

the waitress brought the whiskey to the table and placed it gently on a fresh cardboard coaster.

“Hey, is she from my universe?” He asked the waitress who turned to look at Kenny.

“She is not! She is from a different universe however not a different dimension.”

“What’s the difference?” Kenny asked.

“Dimensions hold universes within them, to change the universe would be to change a finite detail about your world and swap it for another. To change dimensions would be to shatter the fabric of how your world works to make it function like a completely different machine. Like if Jesse Pinkman appeared in Harry Potter.” The waitress explained.

“I’m not sure I understand?” Kenny’s curiosity was getting the better of her. There was so much new going on that she felt a boundless potential to learn.

“In your ‘Idea’ there are an infinite number of universes and dimensions. Universes have branching timelines, Dimensions contain a multitude of universes in a ‘Bubble’ so to speak. And the dimensions are contained within the Anthology. However, this explanation only really applies to you two. Different patrons come from different ‘Ideas’. Their explanations can vary.”

“The Anthology?” Igneous took a sip of his drink.

“Yes, a location that archives the history of Dimensions and universes within said dimension. It’s a library of sorts.”

“Thank you for answering all of my questions. I’m new to… the bigger picture.” Kenny leaned her head backwards to look up at the ceiling. The waitress nodded politely and excused herself with a smile.

“Well if we aren’t from the same universe I guess you can’t help me understand my situation any better.” Igneous lowered his head in agitation. Igneous pushed his half empty glass side to side between his fingers.

She finished her Gin and Coke. “Still don’t wanna talk about it?”

Igneous sighed and finished his drink. “Sorry, but if I talk about it then it’s real. I just don’t know what I'd do if it were real. I’m so miserable on a daily basis anyway, so when something really hurts me… I… I… I can't handle it. So I’m waiting here until I’m ready I guess.”

“Ready to face what happened?”

“Yeah… It’s not healthy but I’d rather be here than there right now.”

“How did you find this place?”

“Some guy with a grey face found me drinking myself into oblivion in an alley.”

Kenny paused Mercury fresh in her mind, “Did you catch his name?”

He thought for a moment. “It started with an ‘A’ I don’t remember much more. I remember thinking it sounded inherently evil though.”

Kenny sighed deeply. “Thank god. We have a grey faced guy, named Mercury. He is our problem customer.”

“Your concern is noted, but probably unnecessary, books and covers and such.”

Kenny stood. “I guess I can agree with you there. I should get going though, tomorrow is a busy day. It was nice to meet you Igneous.”

“It was good to meet you as well.” He looked at the typewriter next to him and sighed. “Hey Kenny?”

“Yeah?” She turned mid stride to look at him. “How would you apologize to someone you stopped talking to.”

Kenny ran a thoughtful hand through her hair, “Maybe just tell them you needed to find yourself again, and that you didn’t mean to cut them out to do it.”

He nodded “Thanks.” His face looked nervous. His eyes clenched as he slowly began to rattle his fingers against the keys.

She walked to the bartender hopeful that her new friend would be alright. “Ok what’s my tab?”

Narrrator: I’ll pay her tab sir.  
Are you sure?  
N: It’s fine you may have this.  
The audience won’t understand.  
N: They don’t need to. It’s inconsequential, If they know where to look they will find answers from another.  
Very well. 

“Your tab has been paid already by the Sagittarius. You’re free to leave.”

She looked at the bartender confused momentarily, “I’ve never met the Sagittarius, how could they pick up my tab?”

The man at the counter shrugged. Her hand forced - she accepted this turn of events. “Thank you, maybe I’ll come again.”

“You know the Hyperlink. Farewell.”  
End of Act 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the hyper link when i formatted it was a bar code. hahahahahahahahahahahaha jokes....... but for real it was.
> 
> This is the end of act 3, and we are at the home stretch. time for the final boss. Thank you for sticking with me through the journey.


	34. Chapter 11: Shapeless and Lifeless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Act 4: Absolutely Nothing Good

August 17, 2023. Today is the day. They day they long awaited, a chance to confront Mercury with the upperhand. With an overwhelming advantage over him, Kenny awoke preparing herself for the upcoming fight. This was their one and only chance - all or nothing. Unfortunately they didn't have time to teach Kenny how to use her powers before going to the Cathedral. In the defense of the Stars they truly didn't know what powers she would have, each Yggdrasil had slightly different powers from the previous. Æsir for example was not very combat enforced and had healing powers. The Yggdrasil’s powers were determined by their expertise in life as a mortal. In Kenny's case it was likely she would have powers surrounding Time Manipulation. Something that would take excessive amounts of energy and something that could very easily obliterate the timeline further. It wouldn't be a safe call for her to haphazardly use a spell not knowing the effects it could have. This is all in theory of course she could have just about anything.

Diabog was well aware of the risk they were taking not knowing what her powers were prior to the encounter with Mercury. That however was actively the least of his worries. He opened a void and pulled Celeste from it. He inspected it calmly while he thought to himself. This brought him enough comfort to leave his room. He felt something was wrong in his bones. He was anxious and the feeling was becoming overwhelming.

Casper was gung-ho ready for the fight. They were hyper and energetic swapping faces and voices in rapid sporadic intervals. Like a child without a care in the world they ran around the top of the Yggdrasil waiting for the others to be ready.

Kempachi packed a few extra arrows and began counting his knives but lost track somewhere around 23, he didn't bother trying to count them again. He smiled confidently, absolutely sure that he could overcome this; that they could overcome Mercury.

Ash was prepping their equipment and looking through her notes updating Kenny's entry to include "chaotic Yggdrasil bullshit???" She took a deep breath and thought to herself.  
"Don't lose your nerve. Everyone is counting on you." Her anxiety bubbling up. Worried about all of the worst case scenarios was putting her on the brink of panic. She took a few deep breaths and stepped out of the bedroom, her nerves wracking her. It had been a long time since she had felt this uneasy.

Kenny was ready. Every atom in the universe was reaching out to her cheering them on, she could feel it echoing into her body as she absorbed the morning air. She felt calm nothing more nothing less.

Ready or not they all gathered outside the house. 

"This is it, our one chance to stop Mercury." Kenny turned to face her friends. "No matter what happens, I'm so grateful to every one of you. You all are amazing friends."

The wind brushed through them gently. Ash began handing a colorless earpiece to everyone. "Try not to break this. It's going to be my only way to contact you."

With everyone equipped Kenny opened a rift into the Timestream. While they traveled across the world countless armies were merging in various locations armed and read for someone to fire the first shot. A first shot that would be entirely orchestrated by Mercury and his personal army. Within the next few minutes, the end of the world would begin. Mercury had pumped his corruption into major government city’s fueling Peoples ost negative emotions

“We have to attack before our enemies do.”  
“We need to guard ourselves, if the terrorists attack we will attack back!”

When you can harness a power that belongs to a Universal energy source. It’s only a matter of time before that power gets turned on the people it was designed to protect. Unfortunate as this power could have been used for good. And it would have been had it not been for The Chrono Illuminati. Truly this is, at least, one of the worst timelines in this dimension.

Mercury was ready and waiting. The canons would fire the moment he saw the Yggdrasil. Full disclosure: They did. And thus the world began to burn. Countless battles began, countless lives sent spiraling into every direction. Some aged, some sent back in time some frozen in time. This was the end they wanted to stop and yet here we are, bright and early to watch it happen: In a sense.

On August 17th 2023 the world ended. There was nothing they could do to stop it. I’m ripping this band-aid off now… it’s not like I was being unclear. I’ve warned you in every letter of every word of every sentence in every paragraph on every single page of this book. This is the end for this timeline. It is doomed to die. I’ve given you plenty of time to come to terms with this with only ‘X’ amount of pages to go. Everyone likes to think that every timeline gets to be happy… But this one doesn’t… This timeline died so that others may live.

This is sad to think about, because as the yggdrasil dies so does all the other possibilities. The good, the bad, the pitiful, the sorrowful, cherished, the greatful. Coming down this doomed timeline would have ended all timelines. However It only ended this particular timeline: and saved all of the others. 

Now I shall begin to elaborate, by explaining what happens in the Underground Cathedral.

Kenny and the others pull the lever on the gravestone marked “M. A. G.”

The meaning still unknown even to me, odd but likely inconsequential. A large flight of stairs opened up as the grave shifted beneath their feet. They walked for what felt like miles, deep down in the belly of the planet. They could feel the energy pulsing, and growing. Seething with pain and rage all around them. Diabog put a barrier of positive emotions around everyone so they wouldn’t be touched by Mercurys’ potent aura.

They saw a light after walking for nearly 40 minutes. Once they reached the light the stairs came to an end. They walked out onto the ledge where the room opened up to a giant ball that had been cut out of the center of the earth. In its place built to the ceiling was an upside down Gothic Cathedral massive and beautiful in structure. A thin walkway had collapsed years ago and they saw no means to get to the Cathedral.

The Cathedral was a dark grey from the stone, but compared to the deep brown rocks around it, it appeared vivid. Eight buttress piers lined both sides of the structure in a symmetrical fashion, between each pier resided a multitude of smaller buttresses. From each pier three flying buttresses attached to the side walls. Two spires symmetrically protruded from the roof near the back of the building. The front door had a rose window just below the door from our perspective as one would say. Along the front of the Cathedral there were two large towers between the two one could view the spires evenly. The building was wider than most cathedrals of this style, likely to fit the excess for pure symmetry. The roof itself has one north to west transept, but two west to east transept. At the cross points the spires were erected. In a double cross style formation. It was a marvelous site, if not an overwhelming one.

“How the hell are we supposed to get in there?” Kenny asked.

“He did say bring the Yggdrasil right?” Kempachi asked rhetorically right before he followed it with “KNOCK KNOCK MERCURY, IT’S TIME TO SETTLE THIS YGGDRASIL AND ALL!”

After a few moments of echo and silence a light bridge extended out from the frontward facing doorway to where they stood. With the drawbridge lowered, so to speak, the team made their way into the cathedral. On their way up Ash quietly whispered to Casper, “I can’t believe that fucking worked.”

Before they got to the door Diabog put up a hand to signal a stop. Kempachi in response put up a hand to ask a question. So clearly Diabog spoke first. 

“How are we going to sneak Ash in? She isn’t supposed to be here, remember.” He turned to look at Ash.

The others looked around and thought quietly, except Kempachi who was wiggling his hand ever so slightly. 

“There is only one entrance, and to either side of the door there is a cliff. Preferably if I had some height I'd be able to look down on the fight, for the most part.” She responded calmly.

Kenny sighed in defeat. “Yes Kempachi?”

“I was just wondering if anyone had any use for this grappling hook attached to like 500 feet of rope? It’s kinda heavy!”

“Jesus Christ Kempachi, why are you such a pain in the ass?” Diabog groaned.

“Oooh! A little extra Bielebog in that one ay bud?” Kempachi elbowed him jokingly. Diabog’s Pink hair frizzled in response.

“Casper, can you tie the hook to something near a window ledge. Ash can climb the rope up from there.” Kenny requested. Casper stretched their neck and arms upwards to find something that matched that description. While Kempachi strapped a knife and a knife holster to Ash’s arm.

“Ash this is a special knife! It’ll keep you safe!” Kempachi smiled at her, his smile was completely unfounded, his charm completely fake. His guard was completely up. She could tell in his mannerisms he was ready to die here today if needed. She pat the knife strapped to her right forearm. 

“You’ll get it back.” was all she said, but he was already walking away to the big double doors in front of them.

Casper finished with the hook and smiled. "Okay! I'm going to do my job now!" Then vanished into thin air.

The doors were massive and elegant like a palace. The big stone doors were cracked just a sliver so they could all pull one of the massive doors open. Once Ash was in position the four all pulled the door to reveal the inside of the building. Like the exterior the interior was also upside down which looked problematic because their floor was several stories down. Kenny Stepped out into the open area fearlessly. She had come this far and Mercury needed her alive. The floor was invisible; she felt it with every bone in her body. As she stepped into open air her foot touched solid ground just not a visible ground. She walked fast and with purpose into the center of the halls of the cathedral. The pews were stuck to the ceiling as if to them they weren’t actually in the wrong direction. The red cushions offset the brown carpet above their heads, marble piers separated the aisle from the nave. The stone within was white and pristine when compared to the dark grey exterior. 

“I love this place.” an Echo of Mercury’s voice bounced lovingly around the walls. Kenny looked forward and saw him kneeling in front of a line of burning candles. Hands on his lap, his back turned to them completely unconcerned. “I wasn’t the one who built it, but it was built for me.” Kenny didn’t respond; in the center of the crossing he sat, she was watching him closely waiting for a sudden movement.

“You saw didn’t you? On the way in? My gravestone.” He calmly took a deep breath. “Mercury Azra Gwendelyn. My Mother named me.”

“Where is she now Mercury” Kenny asked.

He paused before he gave a response, “I don’t know. I'll find her one day when I gain the power of the Yggdrasil.” 

"Don't even try to pull the whole damaged relatable villain bullshit. I don't care. I just thought you should know she would probably hate you for this."

He laughed sadly, with a kind of emptiness only a monster could possess. "Good, because honestly when I find her… I'll kill her too. This place is my own home. I don’t know a place I’d rather be when I drain the life from your eyes Kenny. You’ve been under my nose twice I could have killed you now. You know I could have.”

"It's now or never Mercury. You better shoot your shot because I'm never going to give you another chance! I'm done, I'm sick and tired of this. I hate you Mercury. I hate you so much..." Kenny’s emotions began to overflow as rageful tears welled up in her eyes. Kempachi put his hand on Kenny’s shoulder. She looked down at his hand, then back at Mercury. “Goodbye Mercury. It’s time for you to die.” 

“He is coming.” Ash spoke, while others readied themselves for battle.

Suddenly Mercury spun hard and fast onto his feet and charged the three standing combatants, then he stopped mid charge. Frozen in place. Casper made themself visible. A wall of tendrils wrapped themselves around Mercury in the center of the room; they were sapping the muscles from Mercury, changing all of his muscle mass into weak frail lanky limbs. Mercury didn’t move or react. He just let it happen. Ash gasped.

“Everyone, something is wrong.”

They all got ready to fight but it was too late. There is no stopping it now. Casper had begun to try to find the source of Mercury’s powers but he was the source. Every molecule, every strand of DNA was corrupted. It was full body cancer.

Casper’s cells are fluid, they can shift them into any kind of living cell they could ever think of. However in order to make another living being shift they need to mix the cells with the other living creature, then retract his cells leaving only the shifted cells. Casper when trying to locate Mercury’s power and in weakening Mercury to a controllable level their cells merged and the corruption clung to him. Mercury's corruption… it is aggressive - it is violent. With new uncorrupted cells at its disposal it spread at an impossible speed.

The tendrils shrank down and Casper reverted to a regular human size and shape. Hands resting on Mercury’s shoulders.

“Y… You...” Casper sputtered, they could feel their cells fighting with each other. Casper tried shifting the cells to be resistant to the corruption but the cancer adapted to match. The corruption was merged with the shifting cells, they adapted and fought back harder. Their arms began to spark with red lightning.

Kenny recognized the lightning and immediately knew what had happened. “EVERYONE GET BACK!” She yelled. “CASPER FIGHT IT!”

They turned their head to look back at her, half of their face was grey and cracking around their cheeks, the other half was crying. “I’m… trying… s-so hard...” They let go of Mercury, the mutated cells regenerated, his muscle mass returned. He stepped back and watched Casper as their skin shifted slowly back and forth between corrupted and human. Casper fell to his knees.

“CASPER!” Kenny yelled! “PLEASE, SHAPESHIFT! YOU HAVE TO FIGHT THIS! YOU ARE THE BEST IN THE UNIVERSE RIGHT?”

Casper didn’t look at her this time she could hear cracks in their static voice. “I’m so sorry Kenny. You were right. This was dangerous.” the light tears turned to heavy sobbing. “It’s so painful. I’m losing it. It’s using my powers against me.” They took several deep breaths. “Kenny. Don’t lose this chance because of my mistake. Please.”

“No! Out of the question!”

“DAMN IT PLEASE!” Casper begged. “THE CORRUPTION CAN ONLY REGENERATE CORRUPTED CELLS I’M ONLY HALF CORRUPTED THIS IS YOU ONLY CHANCE.” They took a heavy breath, their sobbing broke through in their voice. “Kill me now while you have the chance.”

“Kenny if Casper gets fully corrupted they could corrupt Diabog and Kempachi. They won’t last nearly this long while the cells take over. You need to. Someone needs to.” Ash's voice breaking up over the radio.

“You’ll need to cut away the part of my head that isn’t corrupted.” They stood up slowly and began to turn around. The grey half of their face was smiling while the human side was wincing in pain and red from crying.

Kenny felt a soft rage boil in her veins; her orange aura felt red and hot and her palm began glowing with a lava consistent red aura. From that aura Yggdrasillian wood grew from her fingertips leaves decorating the branches as it grew.

Diabog looked shocked and confused. The wood began to intertwine and squeeze together forming the shape of a long-sword: Oakbane. The blade was pure wood but harder than any conceivable human metal and was imbued with Yggdrasil energy. She didn't look at it though. She didn’t care. Kenny closed her eyes.

“I’m sorry Casper.” she said.

She kicked off the ground into a sprint. The force blew an explosive wind behind her, in their last moment the shapeshifter smiled. “Goodbye Kenny.”

She slashed upward cutting away what was left of Casper.

In the same movement her eyes shifted to Mercury with a bloodlust she remembered fondly from her time with him in the military base. She lunged stabbing Mercury in his sternum pushing him to the east end wall smashing everything between her and the wall. Slamming him into the wall sent cracks through the stone. Pinning him partially in the air hanging by the sword.

Mercury smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> from the moment Ash separates from the group and everyone goes into the Cathedral her lines are underlined to show that she is being heard over a microphone.


	35. Chapter 12: An Incorporeal Emotion That Bleeds Beyond The Stars.

Mercury placed one hand on Kenny's hand holding the hilt of the sword. His smile was cold and dead. His blood seeped down the white wall. She pushed the blade deeper into the wall opening his wound further.

"You seem upset Yggdrasil." He winced from the pain. "What's wrong?"

Kenny spit in his face. "Fuck you!"

"Kenny," Ash whispered through Kenny's earpiece. "You need to calm down, getting angry won't do anything." She paused "Okay, here is the plan. Kempachi, keep him pinned to the back of the room with arrows that make it look like you are trying to hit him; you don't have to just keep him back there. Diabog, make your whole body incorporeal. You'll lose energy fast but you won't suffer a fatal injury only solidify parts of your body that will inflict pain. Kenny you'll need to remove your sword from the wall when you do step back fast. Keep him occupied while I think of a way to end this."

Kempachi was staying silent; I don't know why. He was quiet when Casper died. He was quiet now just smiling with a deep rage buried in his eyes. I can feel Kempachi withholding information. I have no proof but even if I alerted Diabog it wouldn’t help them win.

Kempachi's hands were at the ready so the moment Kenny ripped Oakbane from Mercury he was able to dash explosively across the room. Mercury as predicted lunged forward to attack Kenny but two knives from Kempachi pushed Mercury off his forward momentum stopping him dead where he stood. Diabog stood back waiting for Mercury to make a move. But he didn't.

"Would you like to make a deal?" He asked calmly, his face hardened, almost angry.

"Not even a little." Kenny scowled and pointed the tip of her blade at him.

"I'm going to kill Diabog next. If you stand down and let me kill you then I will let the others live." He pointed his sword back at her.

"I don't think he's bluffing." Ash's voice confirmed their worries. "Keep him occupied I’m thinking. Diabog, You are his target, don't give him any weak points." 

“Not an option Mercury.” Kenny growled. His hollow grin rippled across his face.

The corruption rippled around him, as he changed forms into his pure self. 

He threw a push kick into Kenny’s sternum. She slid far enough back that it gave him an exit from the surrounding combatants. He leapt several feet in the air, with a twist he activated his blade, it throbbed red. He drew his gun and it pulsed a bright blue.

“Be careful his sword will age you and his gun will send you into the past.”

He began his rapid descent to the ground. He fell halfway to the ground when he teleported. He reappeared on Kenny’s right side. He lunged, she parried upward knocking his sword above his head. Kempachi threw two knives from his coat, and backed away rapidly. Prepping himself to snipe. Diabog threw a hard right into Mercury’s jaw. He aimed at Diabog’s chest and fired 2 rounds that passed directly through him. The two knives took hold in Mercury’s lower back and he began to reassess. The sword landed on the ground next to him. Kenny didn’t wait for him to regain his train of thought. She swung with a left hook, he blocked, Diabog threw a hard right at his side. Kenny lunged with Oakbane. Mercury spun to the left into Diabogs punch, but evaded the blade. He threw a left uppercut into Diabog, but the blow flew through him. Kempachi launched three arrows in quick succession. The two knives in his back were suddenly spat out knocking two of the arrows down. Kenny swung her blade in a slash to the right trying to follow Mercury’s momentum, she shifted her weight and body to put Mercury between her and Diabog. MErcury dislocated his left arm and elbow quickly to catch the last arrow before impact. And slammed the tip of the arrow into Kenny’s sword holding it fast. Diabog threw three hard jabs. Mercury Strafed his head to evade the blows. Kenny retracted her sword back into her arm, freeing it from Mercury.

The two traded blows back and forth with mercury. He made very little effort to move from his spot. Only shifting his weight to evade an arrow. Mercury grabbed Kenny and threw her hard at Diabog. She flew through him. Granting him some room to breath even if momentarily. Kenny bounced off the floor grabbing the floor with her hand slowed her momentum enough to land on her feet sliding to a stop. Mercury teleported to Kenny entirely ignoring Diabog for the moment. He whipped his gun arm around to strike Kenny, she grabbed his arm and used his momentum to twist his arm forcing his body down. He dislocated his knee causing Kenny to lose pressure on his arm. As he fell back he spun quickly with his healthy leg and knocked her legs out from under her. As he spun to a stand he relocated his knee and stomped full force into her body as she fell. He took aim with his pistol. Diabog was already charging full force. He leapt off a west aisle pier to bring momentum to a superman punch which connected to Mercury's jaw dislocating it. Diabog gained footing and spun with a right hook. Mercury ducked,and aimed a back hand punch to Diabog which passed through entirely. Mercury’s face grew irritated. He fired 3 rounds pointlessly at Diabog. His jaw realigned and he grimaced.

Ash suddenly had an idea. “Hey, take his gun. If we change it’s settings we could theoretically kill him right?”

“It’s worth a try, but we can’t use blue, if we send him into the past it’d only create more problems. I don’t imagine being sent into space would phase him much. We need to kill him while he is here.” Kempachi explained.

Kenny gave a light nod. Kempachi fired an arrow and changed positions, taking a knife from his coat he charged Mercury.

Mercury holstered the gun, and evaded the oncoming arrow. Kempachi jabbed with the knife, Mercury hit him with a body blow knocking him off his feet. Diabog took a swing with a right hook. Mercury reacted fast and swung a snap kick at Diabog’s jaw. He leaned back at the same time to avoid the punch and gave his leg some extra reach. It wasn’t fast enough initially to hit Diabog. He let his guard down too early, the downswing from the kick turned into a stomp which caught the back of his head. Slamming him into the ground breaking his nose. Kenny stepped in with a left jab but was countered with a throat punch, followed by two body blows. She recovered and swung down at the top of Mercury’s head he held a cross block. She broke the cross block with an immediate left uppercut and swung again with a left jab. He grabbed the jab and using her momentum threw her over his head and into the air. Kempachi was up and prepped a knife. Diabog had split his head into the twins so Bielebog could heal their nose. Kempachi attempted another right jab, Mercury caught the arm with his right arm and pulled Kempachi to throw him off balance, he then struck the elbow dislocating the arm and disarming Kempachi. However Kempachi grabbed the falling knife blade backwards and spun right to pierce Mercury’s temple. Mercury countered by grabbing his left arm and slamming his elbow into Kempachi’s left temple. The force knocked Kempachi backward, and Mercury slammed his foot into Kempachi’s chest knocking him across the room.

Mercury pulled his gun and fired rapidly at Kenny who ran in a wide circle to avoid the fire. Kempachi fired three arrows himself, catching mercury’s attention. He fired several rounds back. Kempachi jumped to the left and rolled to his feet. Following the momentum he sprinted, his feet caught the wall and he ran alongside it firing arrows as he went. Mercury fired back and narrowly dodged Kempachi’s fire. Diabog charged while Mercury’s back was to him and threw a hard punch into the back of his head. Knocking him off balance. Diabog reached for the gun arm, and held it in place. Kenny came to his aid, Mercury dropped the gun and threw a strong uppercut at the hand holding his wrist. Diabog let go, Kenny formed Oakbane and slashed down on him. Mercury slid his foot under the gun and kicked it upward, slamming it into Kenny’s jaw, knocking her backward. KEmpachi leapt off the wall into a backflip firing an arrow into the top of Mercury’s head which hit its mark. This disoriented him momentarily until a tendril sprung from the wound and whipped violently around the room smashing everything in an immediate vicinity. This included the gun which had bounced toward him after striking Kenny.

“Damn it, grab the sword before he breaks that too.” Ash was anxious watching her friends fight Mercury. 

Kenny increased speed to match Mercury, “Diabog that’s on you I’ll keep him distracted.”

“Kenny, don’t increase your speed too much. Mercury is holding back. So the stronger you get the stronger he will get. We need him to stay ignorant.”

“I don’t understand why he is holding back. He didn't hold back before.” Kenny,

“Maybe he's gained a taste for the chase?”

“If he is enjoying this it might give us an upper hand. He might get sloppy.” Kempachi planted his feet on the ground.

Mercury was smiling. His eerie aura held at bay by Diabog Kenny didn’t fear him. But in his eyes she saw something. Just for a moment. She knew in that moment, he had an idea. 

“Ash, I have a bad feeling.”

“What kind of feeling?”

“I think he is gonna kill Diabog. I don’t want to hold back.”

“Use your battle sense, I trust you.”

She nodded at Kempachi, he responded in kind.

Kenny in a flash was gone and Mercury was suddenly flying across the room. He slammed into the wall sending a violent wave of cracks along the walls of the cathedral. His smile grew wide and his eyes opened, perveying a look of rageful passion. Kenny reappeared to Mercury’s right. He had caught Kenny’s fist in his palm. “Is that all the Yggdrasil can do?” She tried to pull away but he wouldn’t let go. She formed Oakbane, and slashed his hand off. He stood up and a tendril sprouted from his bleeding wrist. It whipped violently at Kenny, she evaded it and slashed madly and angrily. Kempachi threw knives and fired arrows to try to keep the pressure on. He wasn’t even attempting to evade the arrows. From the wounds more tendrils protruded and swings with relentless furry. Kenny was slashing at them with all the rage and power she could muster. Mercury would take a slash periodically but was fancifully dancing around her angry slashes.

He teleported away. Kenny followed with indescribable speed. Kempachi began to ponder his options. In his current state he was incapable of keeping pace with the fight. Kenny and Mercury were far faster than even his eyes could follow. He sighed, and took a knee.

Kenny and Mercury clashed in the crossing. Kenny wasn’t taking any hits. But any damage dealt to Mercury was null. It was a battle of attrition. At least that’s what she thought. She was focused and locked in the heat of the moment. She didn’t see the final blow coming. He lunged with a powerful strike, then he teleported. She read the movement “He is going to attack from behind.”, and brought her sword around and attacked her back. She was wrong.

“Kenny! The Sword!” Ash realised too late. Diabog had finally found the moment to grab the sword, and he did. That was the moment Mercury appeared behind him and grabbed Diabogs hand which was gripping the hilt. The dial twisted to purple. Diabog looked around to find that Kenny and Kempachi were frozen. No not frozen. Just incredibly slow. Creeping at a millimeter a second. Mercury wrested the sword from his hand and time resumed and that was when everything went dark.

******

A purple flash from Mercury's sword and suddenly. Diabogs head was on the floor. His body standing anticipating an attack. 

A splash of blood. A dimming and fizzling light entered Kenny’s vision as another mentor was cut down without even a moment's hesitation in a move that could hardly be called anticipatable. It just feels numb. Kenny felt it physically and mentally but her body couldn’t lie as the feelings poured from her face. Emotion stripped from her mind in this moment. His death rang out through an emotional aura to ensure someone would mourn him. And we all did in our way. He filled us with hope. Now that he was gone. Empty. Mercury’s painful hateful aura spread over us all.

This wasn't the fight we had wanted or hoped for, it wasn't the big save the world resistance we needed and it was never going to be. Now this thought has entered Kenny’s perception as if it were trying to call out to her. The sound of the feeling. The emptiness of emotions that just suddenly stopped.

The emotions she once held, for the man whose bright pink hair rivaled that of Stuart Semple's color palette, seemed to just stop.

She felt valueless and empty, and empty and empty and empty and empty and empty and empty.

Kempachi looked at the body coldly disregarding that he had ever really been there at all.

And what if in reality Diabog’s existence and subsequent death was all part of what he was as Czernobog and what he embodied as Diabog. Czernobog made others feel emotions: Diabog was filling.  
With both of these removed from the room you’d feel in the moment, had you been there, Czernobog and Diabog never really existed except to fill an empty hole in people’s lives. With him gone - emptiness returns.

Yet here he stays, his existence drifting a little farther away moment by moment. Falling to her knees she screamed out in pain. A pain that can only be experienced first hand.

Maybe the way that I’m talking right now is a sign of pain or loss or shock. I know the answers but I won’t disclose them. Would it matter to you anyway? To know the feelings of a faceless expression that you can only visualize by looking into the corner of your room in a near pitch darkness? To know that the visualization hurts in a way that you can too in real life. To feel the energy sapped from you while you watch a loved one perish under circumstances utterly beyond your control like cancer. Like Mercury.

Ash was in shock not able to process what had happened yet. Now a rift had been driven between the remaining members of the squad.

With Casper and Diabog dead, those left (Kempachi, Kenny, and Ash) had no plan, no hope, and no chance of escape. Not that it would matter. The fight was nearly over. The end of the world was already occurring. There was no cutting the head from this snake.


	36. Chapter 13: The Fate Of A Liar

Kempachi straightened his back looking solemnly over the bodies of his comrades with a cold heartlessness. Kenny hadn't noticed but Kempachi was very far removed from the deaths of those he deemed as friends. He shuffled slowly toward Kenny who was standing shaken and frozen in place.

"We are nearly free of this nightmare. Don't give up yet." He placed a hand gently on her shoulder. The gentle touch breaking her from her trance: eyes glistening as tears touched her cheeks. "I need you both to listen up, we haven't lost yet I have a plan and I know it will work."

"I don’t understand. What could we possibly do?" Ash murmured softly over the earpiece

Kenny wiped the tears from her face and gripped her fists tightly. Motivated by fury she glances up at Kempachi whose face is twisted in a confusing mish-mash of glee and pain.

"What’s the plan?" Kenny turned her head to face the embodiment of their fears and hate. 

"We need to send you into the past."

"That's been an option?!" Kenny mouthed angrily.

"Not quite, there are consequences. Changing a fate of this magnitude also has a few conditions that need to be met.  
"First we need to know the date to go to, second we need to confirm enough change has happened in the past that you won't wind up right back here. You need enough power to send yourself that far back."

"Well this plan is a bust! We have no clue when Mercury began production on Chrono tech." Ash peered over the ledge of her upside down aisle balcony, overlooking the scene.

"You'd be right, if you weren't wrong. Kenny, focus on November 8th 1983, think about Mercury. Focus on it. I'm going to buy you some time."

She grabbed his sleeve as he began to walk toward danger. "How do I know when I'm ready? How do I know I can kill him?"

Kempachi touched her hand gently and with an eccentric grin he exclaimed, "You'll know because you'll be in the past! You are the embodiment of time in this dimension, you were made for this. Someone will be there to give you the key." He listed his hand to her ear and took her earpiece. “You don’t need the distractions. I’ll keep you alive until it’s time.”

She let go of his arm and nodded. She began to meditate, searching for the feeling of her roots, swirling around the planet; weak but bursting with energy.

Kempachi stood before Mercury with no fear in his eyes. Mercury, confident in his assured victory had given little resistance to the schemes of his prey.

"You know - I don't actually know who you are." Mercury announced at a closer glance at Kempachi. "Where did the Yggdrasil dig you up?"

"Everest? Why?"

"I wasn't expecting a literal response."

"Sounds like a personal problem to me. I'm not the one asking rhetorical questions."

"You have a lot of Vim for a mortal."

"See I've always wondered about that." Kempachi began circling Mercury who circled back so as not to show his back to Kempachi. "Maybe I'm not mortal. See I've never died. Putting one's mortality to the test implies you have your mortality to lose."

"You're insinuating you can't be mortal because I have to prove you can die?"

"I mean… have you seen me die? Because then I’d definitely have something to be afraid of."

Mercury scowled "You know I was gonna leave you alive in exchange for your Yggdrasil. But killing you is just too fun to pass up."

"Go ahead! Give it a try! Lets wager your raw power against my plot armor."

Mercury didn't wait for action or readiness on Kempachi's part. His sword clutched firmly he thrust his blade. Kempachi parried the blade suddenly by producing a knife in his hand. Pulling another knife from his coat he leapt backward creating space between him and his adversary. Space that was promptly ignored as Mercury charged. Kem threw the knives he was holding both deflected by blade movement he couldn't track with his eyes. He pulled an arrow from his quiver and with a backflip into the air Mercury found himself at the wrong end of Kempachi's crosshairs, an arrow piercing Mercury's shoulder.

Kempachi landed back to back with Mercury who teleported angrily in front of Kempachi.

"You have speed, I'll give you that." Mercury twisted his sword to blue.

Kempachi blinked bored and uninterestedly. "Yeah?"

Mercury scowled, in a flash of red he was gone. He appeared just slightly above Kempachi dropping himself and his blade toward the trickster. Kempachi deflected the blade with a blade he retrieved from a pouch strapped to his forearm. Mercury landed just to the side of Kempachi who swept at Mercury's legs. He teleported away just before contact was made.

Mercury materialized again with a swing of his sword. He was teleporting all around Kempachi in a mad frenzy, Kempachi deflecting every opportunity. Sparks of blue blasted around the room with every clash of their blades. Kempachi was sitting strongly on the defensive and was holding his own against the increasing rage of his adversary.

"Are you going to get serious Mercury? Come on? I've waited so long to see what the man, the myth, the failure has to offer." Kempachi taunted.

"You don't understand Stranger." Mercury's smile grew humorous and eerie, his concrete skin crackled across his cheeks and spread around his body. 

"You'd be surprised."

"I need the power of the Yggdrasil."

"What does Kenny have that you don't ‘Hatter’?"

Mercury scowled and with a loud crack Mercury broke the sound barrier, his sword clashing hard with Kempachi's cross guard. With immense pressure on Kempachi's guard he felt his knee buckle slamming it into the ground as he held his guard up. In this moment Mercury leaned in to speak.

"Who are you?" He whispered.

"My name is Kempachi Ramasama." He grunted, "Remember the name. You'll need it. You may run into trouble remembering my face."

"Another shapeshifter?"

"You are young. You have only touched the basics of how big your world is."

"You are from his world aren't you."

"I know him, but we didn't get off on the same boat." Kempachi twisted his guard and threw a side kick into Mercury pushing him back. Kempachi swung both of his knives down into a sudden guard from Mercury.

"We should fight on the same team! You could learn from me!" Mercury audible chortled at Kempachi's resistance.

"Sorry 'stoney' but my loyalties don't exist, only promises. I promised you'd die so I'm gonna make sure it happens."

Kempachi broke away from the forward assault and pulled several arrows from his quiver. The first two arrows fired knocked the sword from Mercury's hand. Mercury teleported behind Kempachi avoiding a third arrow. Mercury swung a hard roundhouse kick. Kempachi caught the kick mid swing, spinning Mercury with his own force and momentum. He let go sending Mercury into the wall. Several arrows followed. Two hitting Mercury in the chest. 

In a flash Kempachi was on top of Mercury and thrust several knives into his joints. Mercury threw a right uppercut into Kempachi's solaplexis. Teleporting and clocking Kempachi hard on his left cheek throwing the stunned man toward a wall at incredible speed but with another teleport Mercury caught Kempachi on the right side. Kempachi's body smashed hard onto the invisible floor and flew through the side wall. Which lead into a deep fall.

Grabbing a hook arrow he fired a shot that caught onto the hole he created in the side of the building. Mercury one step seemingly ahead teleported into the air above Kempachi. Swinging from a rope above the chasm was the last place Kempachi wanted to face off against Mercury. Mercury went for a cut of Kempachi's rope But Kempachi fired another hook arrow that pierced Mercury's arm.

Mercury wrapped the rope around his arm tight and began swinging it madly Kempachi held fast to the rope until mercury slammed him into the wall of the Cathedral. Back on solid invisible ground he began to pick himself up off the floor.

"Wh… what's wrong Mercury? Can't kill one mortal? You downed 2 celestials. So what about me?"

Kempachi was on his hands and knees catching his breath, blood seeping from his back and from his cheeks. His breath was heavy and he felt his energy going down significantly. He looked to Kenny who was watching his fight intensely. She watched Kempachi look at her directly and make a fist rubbing the palm side of his fist circles around his chest. She didn't understand what this gesture meant.

"Ash, okay. It's time for the plan. I need you to trust me."

"Just promise me it will work." She took a deep breath.

"As long as Kenny sees… then it'll work."

"Sees what?"

"A Game Over." Kempachi concluded.

Mercury walked slowly to Kempachi who was still catching his breath.

"You are too weak." He belittled the defeated druid.

"Or maybe I threw the fight. I guess we will never know."

"Goodbye Kempachi." Never one to saver a victory Mercury swung his sword. Kempachi however didn't plan on dying yet. He quickly rolled out of the way of the swing.

"Still trying to win?"

"It's been checkmate for days buddy. You just haven't seen why yet?"

Kempachi's eyes fizzled away to be replaced by the ominous glitch - he let out a deep sigh. Suddenly he broke through the sound barrier. Mercury deflected a fast punch and swung back. Kempachi's speed matched mercury at every beat. From Ash's perspective she felt hard waves of energy slam into her chest every few moments as Mercury and Kempachi began tearing the building around them down into rubble.

Kempachi managed to slam mercury down directly in front of Ash. He was beaten bloody. Covered in bruises, blood, and dirt, tiny tendrils whipping around his body healing his wounds.

"Mercury?" The audibly shocked Ash took a step back as they made eye contact. Mercury coughed blood.

"You!?" Mercury sounded just as shocked to see her as she was to see him. He smiled at her with his blood soaked teeth.

She looked closer at him; he had several bone fractures and breaks from the impact of his punches on Kempachi.

Speaking of which he wasn't in much better condition. However he didn't have a regeneration unlike Mercury.

Kempachi placed his back to the wall. Blood seeping from cuts all over his face and body. He sat slowly using the wall to lower himself slowly.

"Damn. If I'd known this was gonna happen I would have picked up my dry cleaning."

"Still making jokes?"

The mostly healed Mercury began standing as his right leg regained function. Mercury pulled a knife from his chest and limped over to Kempachi. At least at first it was a limp. Mercury looked at Kempachi with a modicum of respect. As he pressed the blade into Kempachi's heart.

"No!" Ash yelled. "Kenny!"

Kenny stopped meditating and leapt to the balcony to see Kempachi's last smile. As the light faded from his eyes.

In his last breath he looked at Mercury and whispered something in his ear. Then his head fell to the side, his eyes fixed firmly on Kenny, a smile still written all over his face.

The rage boiled in her heart; she took several deep breaths as she watched the scene unfold in front of her. "Why…" was all she had to say in that moment.


	37. Chapter 14: Conditional Surrender.

The lifeless body of Kempachi struck Kenny as an oddity. As he died. Her memories of him spurred sadness. She didn't react. Her emotions are already broken and complicated.

"He really did manage to surprise me." Mercury announced "You made some powerful friends Yggdrasil."

"My name is Kenny." She said weakly as she slumped to her knees.

"Is that really a hill you need to die on? Right now? Being on a first name basis?" He wiped his tattered clothes down - patting rubble and dirt from his clothes.

A brief silence passed over them. Mercury spoke again calmly as usual. "You know what I'm going to say."

"Surrender or you'll kill Ash?"

"I'll give you 30 seconds to think about it."

"I don't need it."

"Then choose."

"Spare Ash."

"Good." Mercury walked slowly towards the defeated Kenny.

"KENNY!" Ash shouted. "You can't give up!"

"It's over Ash. We couldn't do it. We didn't have enough time."

"I won't let you just throw away the future!" Ash charged at Kenny.

Mercury placed firmly between Ash and Kenny he raised his sword. High in the air. As he brought it down Ash leapt between the blade and Kenny taking a major gash to her back. Her blood loss was immense. Mercury, indifferent. Took a step back and a breath.

"You all are so quick to kill yourselves for nothing." Mercury. Leaned to one side and disapprovingly crossed his arms.

"Ash?" Kenny scrambled to wrap her arms around her lover. "Why did you do that?" Tears poured from Kenny’s eyes. She squeezed Ash bringing her as close as she could. "I don't know how to use any of my powers. I don't know how to save you please. Don't die.”

"Our mission was to protect you. I won't let you throw everything away." Ash put a gentle hand on Kenny's crying face. "Kempachi believes in you. I believe in you."

"Fuck that - what good is saving the world if none of you are in it!"

"Remember what Kempachi told you. November 8th 1983. You can do it." She coughed up blood that was pouring into her lungs and buried her face in Kenny's arms. The pain flowing through her was unbearable. But was quickly fading. Ash attributed her lack of pain to Kenny's embrace. I'm not one to correct her or change her mind. Kenny held her tightly.

"Don't die. Please. Don't die. Please. Don't die. Don't die. Don't die. I don't know what I'll do. I don't know what to do. Please. Ash? Please. Don't die. Please. Please. Please please. please please please please Ash! ASH!. PLEASE! DON'T DIE. YOU CAN'T DIE. PLEASE I'LL DO ANYTHING. NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO. DON'T DIE PLEASE." Holding Ash's lifeless body in her arms she pleaded and cried hopelessly screaming and begging. Until the screams grew soft and horse. Her hands and arms and shirt covered in blood that didn't belong to her.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Mercury offered.

"Fuck you" she spat with a cracking voice.

"She shouldn't have jumped in the way. I would have spared her."

"You could have stopped. We had a deal!"

"You could have blocked me! You gave up."

"You didn't give me a CHOICE!"

"Well now you definitely don't have a choice. Because there's no more lives for me to take except yours."

Kenny stood slowly letting Ash's head lay gently on the ground.

"Can you feel your powers draining while the world fights above us? Can you feel your branches dying, civilizations collapsing? Come upstairs with me. Let me show you the world as it is now. Even if you beat me, you should see what your world will be left as."

Kenny's crestfallen expression was all the answer he needed. Placing a hand on her shoulder they teleported about five miles above the ground. They walked along an invisible floor looking down at the ground. There was fire and destruction melting across the globe. Countless people dying for reasons even Kenny didn't fully understand. Earthquakes tsunamis', hurricanes, tornados, meteors, volcano eruptions, war: all shattering life across the globe.

"We never stood a chance?" Kenny asked Mercury.

"The cards were stacked 30 years ago. You couldn't just fix a problem I created years before you were even born." 

"All for the sake of becoming 'god'?"

Mercury sighed. "Why do you care? Will knowing my motivation change the result?"

"It may not change the result, but I'll know what we died for."

He pondered her response temporarily. "The Past, Present, and Future of all timelines, universes, and dimensions is contained within 'The Anthology.'"

"So I've heard. What does that mean?"

"I want to see it! 'The Anthology'. I want to know what it means to exist."

"With the power of the Yggdrasil one could reach 'The Anthology'?" Kenny stood bewildered and lost.

"Not quite, getting the power of the Yggdrasil is just one part of the plan. I have two powers from other universes right now. I still need to gain power from other universes."

"How many worlds have you destroyed. How many will you destroy?" Kenny's fists clenched blood seeped from her palms.

"As of now… just this one. I may destroy more. Obtaining ultimate power in a universe is different in every universe." He placed a hand on Kenny's shoulder and teleported them both back to the cathedral. "Do you understand now? Are you satisfied?"

"This was all so far above any of us. Your scope of destruction is above me, it's above my friends, above my timeline." Kenny wiped her eyes. Her face was raw from tears.

"I'm sorry - there was nothing you could do."

"What makes 'The Anthology' so important?"

"I believe I was born there: in 'The Anthology'. I want to go home. I don’t remember anything. Why I was cast out, what my life means. I'll gain power and I'll climb to 'The Anthology'. I'll take my past back." Mercury had his hand still firmly on Kenny's shoulder. Neither of them moved, she stood silently. "Have you accepted this result?"

"I haven't. I don't think I'll ever accept it. You took everything from me. You took my planet, and my friends. You tortured me, and burned cities to the ground. You killed Ash… You fucking killed her. She, like billions of others, was powerless against you. You killed her anyway, without even blinking." Her eyes began to flicker and burn brightly and every ounce or pain and fear and sadness and rage bubbled to the surface. Every feeling of love and happiness and joy. She began glowing and overflowing with energy and emotion. “How could you! How can you just stand there empty and void of anything except your own selfish means. Even if I can't save my Universe. Even if I couldn't save Ash. I'll stop you. To save everyone else. Every other universe. If I can protect 'The Anthology', then no matter what happened here your vile corruption won’t reach another universe."

"Then we fight to the death?"

"It won't be a fight." Kenny concluded with a bright flash of light, then everything changed.


	38. Chapter 15: November 8th, 1983.

Kenny opened her eyes and found herself in a location she couldn't recognize. She felt more power from the Yggdrasil than she ever felt in her present time. She looked at her surroundings, some trees all around and a small building to her left with only a door and a dark staircase.

"Mercury is here isn't he." She pondered. Then she heard footsteps making their way up the dark stairwell. There was no feeling dread or fear coming off of the footsteps. She loosened her guard with a drop in anticipation. Up the stairs came Azazeroth.

His grey face and crackling cheeks the humorless smile mixed together perfectly. Kenny leapt in panic pulling Oaks Bane from roots she was able to produce from her right arm. The roots wrapped around her arm making a form of malleable protection while she held the sword. Azazeroth leapt in surprise and put his hands up in immediate surrender.

"Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait!" He protested.

"Mercury? Is that you?" 

"Mercury? He isn't here yet?" Azazeroth made an 'oops' face and waved his hands reassuring his surrender.

"Don't bullshit me I recognise you! You… You look… wait?!" This man was noticeably older, thinner, sickly even. Her closer inspection made her doubt her initial fear reaction.

"Look! You seem to be mistaken; I can shoot crooked and talk straight if it makes things easier!"

Kenny's face twisted into visible confusion. "Talk... fast."

"Mercury is a person of interest for the Celestials." 

"You are a star?"

"And you are a Yggdrasil! I'm Azazeroth the Ophiuchus, it is a pleasure to meet you Madame! The Fifth in your Lineage, you should be proud." He bowed as a symbol of peace.

"So… why do you… share some of Mercury's physical traits?" Kenny retracted the roots that had grown from her shoulder and stabbed the blade into the ground. The cut felt smooth and easy.

"Well in truth it's because we share an origin. We were both exiled from 'The Anthology'. He found me after he came to this universe, I've simply been keeping tabs on him.

"Some use you were! He destroyed everything!" Kenny spat. "What good are you stars if you never prevent evil from happening."

"You are a new Yggdrasil. According to my memory Æsir should be the current Yggdrasil. Since you are here right now she doesn't currently exist. There is a lot you don't understand." Azazeroth exhaled a sigh of exhaustion and gave a smile. Pacing slowly he began circling Kenny, scanning her up and down - slowly, viciously. "You are coming back here to change the future, I won't stop you. Hell at your command I'll even help you."

"How do I know you won't betray me! How do I trust you aren't taking his side!"

"Oh, you have nothing to worry about. He may be a fellow exile but I don't share his nationalism."

Kenny thought about it for a brief moment. "Maybe you don't stop him because he kills you here. He killed Diabog and Casper in my timeline. I know the stars were really disconnected so maybe… maybe they don't know that you died here? Or they don't know why…"

"I wouldn't know. This is my present day."

“I can’t act on baseless assumptions, god damn it.” Kenny ran her fingers through her hair and took a deep breath. "Okay fine. How do we kill Mercury?"

"We? You misunderstand, I can't fight, practically useless. This is your battle. If you want to beat him, you’d need to be able to vaporize every molecule in his body. That would be difficult however, seeing as I haven't known a Yggdrasil with that kind of attack power. My advice, trap him, and lock him away."

"I have no clue how to do that!"

“You are in luck, I happen to have a tool for just this kind of occasion.” He reached into his pants pocket and extracted a gold key that floated magically over the palm of his hand. “This should do the trick.”

Kenny looked at the Key, an ominous glowing relic shimmering with magic and gold. “What does it do?”

“It unlocks a door to a dungeon. A prison that alters its form to be the exact hellscape needed to contain any individual.”

“And there is no escape?” Kenny asked.

“Not particularly, do you intend to give him the key on your way out?” Azazeroth mocked.

“I need to be sure. If he ever gets out It’ll spell the end for The Anthology.”

“Well, there is one way he could escape on his own. The dungeon acts more like a labyrinth, learn whatever lesson it wants for you, rehabilitate yourself, and the dungeon will open on its own. Though whatever comes out most certainly wouldn’t be Mercury.” Azazeroth chuckled at the thought, a ripple of red aura swept over his skin lightly and clung to his skin like a film. 

“I’m not sure I can risk him getting out.”

“If it makes you feel any better I only know two individuals in my whole life who have ever gotten out. One learned a lesson, and was badly scared. The other however… was let out by five people who didn’t know what pandora had in store for them.”

“What got out?” Kenny looked at him with a furious determination. 

“An evil so great, the universe needed a Hard Reboot, courtesy of The Anthology itself.” Azazeroth tossed the key her way. She caught it swiftly, the magic buzzed between her finger tips.

Kenny’s eyes burned with a bright flame of hatred. She looked at the key and looked back at Azazeroth. “How can I trust that Mercury won’t come out worse than when he went in?” 

Azazeroth turned his back to her and began walking from the forest. “I’d suggest hiding the key somewhere only you’d ever be able to find it.” Azazeroth waved a passing hand directing Kenny toward the stairway. "Mercury will arrive in 10 minutes. If you manage to stop him you'll want to do something about the man in the basement. He has some problematic blueprints that are about to be completed."

"Chrono tech!"

Azazeroth nodded and leaned back on his heels. "I'm glad I could be of assistance."

“Wait!” She called, “How do I use this thing?” 

“It’s a key!” He shouted over the distance. “I’m sure you can figure it out!”

Kenny relaxed finally and looked almost completely worn out. When suddenly Azazeroth reappeared behind her, his hand placed gently on her shoulder, the red aura seeping fear into her skin. "Oh yes, I forgot Kenny. Thanks for saving me from a fate I'll never see." Then he vanished without a trace.

"Azazeroth…" she thought aloud. "What are you?"

*******************

When Mercury arrived Kenny was sitting calmly at the base of a tree trunk; Oaks Bane leaning against her shoulder. Mercury looked visibly confused. He looked more human. His potential for evil felt less potent.

"Who are you?" Mercury asked as he approached his hands calmly in his pockets.

"I'm Kenny, you are looking for the Yggdrasil. I'm here."

"I wasn't expecting to see you so soon." Mercury stopped advancing and scowled. "Why did you seek me out?"

"I came to make sure my dimension never suffers the affliction you bring."

"You talk big. Can you deliver?"

"If we fight here it is very possible we will destroy everything. I'd like to ask you to come with me. We will go somewhere you can fight your heart out."

"I'll go all out with or without a change in setting." He mocked.

"Then humor me, I'd rather not consume my own home just to dispatch a mouse."

He grinned menacingly. 

"Join me on an even playing field. I know you aren't strong enough to kill me while I'm at full power. That is why you want to drain my power supply first!"

"Fine, you're right. I am aware of how strong a Yggdrasil can be."

"Then let's take this somewhere more even. I'll be cut off from my direct source of power. You will be allowed to act as destructive as you'd like."

He pondered her proposal. "Fine. Where would you like to fight?"

Kenny stood and turned 90 degrees to her left. Extracting the key from her pocket she pressed the key slowly against the air, magic ripped a hole in the fabric of the universe. The hole fit the key perfectly. She twisted the key and a rift split before their eyes. Air was sucked mercilessly into the vacuous hole in the universe.

She gestured into the portal and stepped inside.

***********

Her and Mercury walked into the new locale. A pure void of infinite blackness.

"I see, truly nothing to destroy. Only one of us leaves here alive." Mercury looked around, the blackness was difficult to look at, it was hard to comprehend. So long as he looked at something with color it was easier for him to concentrate.

"Only I am leaving here alive." Kenny turned to face him. Approximately 20 feet stood between then

"You'll need to back that up!"

She sighed and the portal they entered wavered

"Mercury, I'm going to explain what's going on." She began. "I'm leaving. Right now in fact. You can't open a portal out of here only a Yggdrasil can. I was gifted this prison to contain you shortly before you arrived."

"No!" He shouted back. "I won't let you just leave!"

"You don't have a choice." Kenny brought her hands up and thick vines burst from her fingertips wrapping madly around Mercury's arms and legs and torso covering him from head to toe. Constricting his movement. Once he was wrapped she squeezed her vines holding him fast. Releasing the vines from her fingers. She pressed the key into a hole and opened a portal back to her home. "Goodbye Mercury. Have a fun rest of eternity. You may not die. But you will never leave."

Kenny stepped through her portal and back into 2023.

"FUCK YOU I'LL GET OUT, AND I'LL FUCKING"

His threats were empty and went unheard.

End of Act 4.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end of Act 4! How exciting. Mercury is trapped in Eucla's dungeon. The Key is something I explain in more detail in a short story i wrote. I'll likely put it on AO3 for consistency. but its accessible via my patreon as well. the short story is titled Eucla's Dungeon. For more context on how Azazeroth got it, its purpose and more please read that short story.


	39. Chapter 16: Beyond Valhalla, and The Problem With Fate.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Act 5: Aftermath.

\--For reasons unknown to the Anthology this chapter has been redacted--

*I (Kenny) don’t remember what happened here, but i'm sure something did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter in its entirety does exist. like Chapter 10 intermission, i wrote the chapter then redacted it's contents because of plot elements contained within the chapter. I'll release this chapter in its entirety in a later work.
> 
> This chapter is the first chapter i introduce where Kenny was intended to be the narrator. but due to the redaction that will have to wait. The point of its placement here was to give Kenny a personal font as she has been given narration powers.


	40. Epilogue: Truths Best Left for Another Day

**“** **_Thank You for tuning in to DEF8 the world's foremost source for news. Just Yesterday the world felt like it was sinking into a true end of the world scenario, however today we all woke up to the sweet sounds of birds chirping. What actually happened? Today we talk to some experts, (and civilians) and get their opinion._ **

**“** **_We have Dr. Issac Formand, the leading expert in the study of non linear time. Doctor, could you please tell us what you believe caused this bizarre phenomenon?”_ **

**“** **_Well in layman's terms we jumped timelines.”_ **

**_“We jumped timelines?”_ **

**_“Yes”_ **

**_“But would we remember that kind of thing?”_ **

**_“Well, This is only a hypothesis but yes! The timeline is alive in a way. It only has so much it can take care of. Small jumps are easy to cover up. Timeline erases old memories then fills in the gaps. Like buying a sandwich instead of a bag of chips this wont drastically affect anything like films and television would have you believe. What we experienced yesterday was time collapsing in on itself so we all jumped ship and went to a timeline that was safe from the apocalypse. One where humans never made Chrono Technology. but because the change was so severe the timeline could only focus on making the changes to our timeline and was unable to change our affected memories.”_ **

**_“What kind of side effects could we see in the future because of this?”_ **

**_“The biggest one, that we have psychiatrists developing a system of treatment for, is contradictive memory. Because we kept our knowledge of our old timeline AND we also have memories of our lives in this timeline some memories may contradict. It won’t affect everyone. But there may be a large number of people who will suffer this affliction. Another side effect will be that people who knew about the original research likely have no memory of how to re-create the technology. Probably a failsafe so we don’t make this mistake again.”_ **

**_“It was definitely an ordeal for me. I died in the previous timeline.”_ **

**_“Yes, some people may retain memories of their deaths and should seek psychological counseling as there will probably be a lot of side effects of this. It’s just another problem we will see a lot of in the coming future. But no doubt this event will have a definitive effect on our lives and culture from this point.”_ **

**_“Well thank you so much Doctor, for your time this morning coming out to talk to us today! We are going to cut to commercial, in the meantime, reach out to us on social media we would love to hear what you think! Up next! The Apocalypse in our rear view mirror what will fast food chains do to spice up the variety of life? McDonalds CFO may have a few ideas for us. Keep watching we will be right back!”_ **

***************

Ash turned off the TV and rolled over onto her stomach. “I feel like absolute shit today!” she thought to herself. “I guess it worked”.

\----------------------------

“A Game Over” Kempachi whispered.

“What do you mean you cryptic prick?” She muffled angrily into her mouth piece.

“Both of us are going to die, Kenny needs to feel cornered and trapped. It’s going to unlock all of her potential. The emotional fuel will force out all of her strength at once. A ‘Game Over’ meaning she needs to lose so she can save the world.”

“You knew none of this was going to work the whole time you ass hole!” Ash spat.

“It’s much more complicated than that. When we wake up tomorrow you can bitch at me all you want about how much it sucks to be dead.”

“You said you were 100% confident this would work.”

“I am.”

“You are from a future where we won: aren’t you?”

“Fine, yes. You need to place your life in my hands, and more importantly you need to place your life in Kenny’s hands.”

\----------------------------------

Ash pondered everything, coming to terms with the end of their adventure. Coming to terms with the pain they all endured. Coming to terms with a safe resolution. She won’t be able to go back to her regular life. Now she knows what flows in the veins of the world. What secrets the stars hold. She feels every ounce of it. Once she is done feeling she gets dressed for the new day.

“I want to learn Magic.” She exclaimed.

**************************************

Bielebog and Czernobog stand at the base of the Yggdrasil Tree. Bielebog cracks his knuckles in the wind.

“Do you think we will have any luck in finding the other stars?” the coke fiend complained.

“A few at the least, I just hope no one has found a way to jump ship. The Libra, Ophiuchus, and Scorpio will be the hardest to track.” Czernobog began the process of putting his long pink hair in a bun.

“Getting the gang back together huh?”

“It’s time. We have a new Yggdrasil - the Celestials must gather.”

“What a time to be alive!”

“Do you have any concerns about what Kenny mentioned?”

“About Zazy? I’m not sure. We have known him for thousands of years and he hasn’t even once lifted a finger to kill so much as a plant. It’s hard for me to question his devotion to the Yggdrasil. Especially considering how close he was to Eucla.”

“I agree, though his connections to Mercury leave me wondering. Especially about this… place? ‘The Anthology’. I’m going to be putting in some time investigating all of these connections. I don’t like leaving coincidence unchecked.”

“Sounds good to me. I’m just along for the ride.” Bielebog took the first steps on their journey.

*********************************

Kempachi walked along a river bed quietly ponderously. He smiled anxiously. “You know Sagittarius, your narration really is unneeded here.” 

I’m sorry Kempachi, I’ll leave if you’d prefer.

“Don’t worry about it, I guess I’ll let them see what’s coming in my future.”

Kempachi waited at the river bed for 3 hours unmoving. He didn’t even flinch until a portal opened beside him. Kempachi Ramasama stepped out of the portal. They looked at each other and both raised a hand as if to ask a question: smiling.

******************************

Casper… disappeared… I won’t lie. I can’t see him. I’m not even sure if he came back after the change in timeline. Most likely he doesn’t want to be found on purpose. The mission is over. It only stands to reason that they would move on. I hope the twins find him.

******************************

Kenny walked down the hallway, keeping her eyes fixated squarely at the ground. Her heart raced. She was nervous. Panicked even. In a way she didn’t understand her own actions. Why she was at ASU in the first place. Why she was looking for Caleb. What made her think he was here? She figured “Why not?” She walked to her old dorm. Sneaking in with a few students in the elevator. She made her way up to the fourth floor where she used to room. When she got to her room it appeared to be unoccupied. Slipping a small vine through the crack in the bottom of the door she unlocked the door and stepped inside.

“You actually came?” Caleb sat in the provided swivel desk chair. Scribbling in a notebook.

“I wanted to make sure you came back to life at the very least for what you did. I still don’t like you.”

“I know you don’t like me… I was actually wondering if you’d be able to hear me out. A few things have changed since you changed the timeline.” He very momentarily looked up to make eye contact with Kenny.

“You aren’t a Time Elemental anymore.” Kenny blurted.

“Y… Yeah! How did you know?”

“You don’t have any energy surrounding you at all. You are human.”

“I could never see any earlier than my date of birth. So I never knew how far back the problem was. I only saw the solution that was presented to me.”

“Has… that changed anything else?”

“You want to know if your friends from freshman year are alive now.”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Well… a lot changed. Since theoretically you lived day to day in freshman year, because I wasn’t interfering, They should be alive”

Kenny nodded, “Alright. Listen we can catch up later, I have a job I might assign to you if you want it. That can wait until another time. We should all just take a break for a few weeks.”

Caleb stopped writing and stood. He extended his hand out to Kenny “Thank you so much!” he said, “You saved me. I… don’t deserve it. I know. After what I’ve done. I hope one day you can forgive me but today… Thank you.”

Kenny shook his hand and gave him a cold distant stare. “I’ll see you around.”

She turned toward the door and walked out. Thinking to herself as she walked “Maybe me and Ash should go to Minnesota instead?”

*************

Meanwhile at 'The Throne of the World' Azazeroth sat ponderously staring between the cave walls. The chair on which he sat was one made entirely of stone carved in the room from what once was a large boulder. His head rested on his palm patiently waiting.

"What to do? What to do?" He began aloud. "Kenny has taken her birthright, and the Celestials are being summoned."

He stood and walked calmly to the entrance of his cave. He stared out over the mountain range and smiled.

"Almost all of the pieces are right where they belong: finally. It's been so fucking long." 

A pulsing energy the likes of which I've never seen leaked from his pores like oil. 

"It's time to take a temporary leave. Another universe still needs to be stacked. Don't worry Kenny I'll be back for your gathering. I just need to… 'run a few errands'"

The oil like energy turned to a thick puddle absorbing Azazeroth from his feet pulling him into the muck. He smiled brightly as his head and the energy vanished into the dust.

And like an echo his voice reverberated a final threat.

"This is the end!"

*The End*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it! That's the novel. It went through 4 rough drafts before it became this version. it's not perfect. but I worked very hard on it. If you want to see this in a properly formatted version or even a physical edition it's in my goals to hire an editor and get it officially published. If you want to support me and that endeavor, or my future writing projects please support me on patreon.
> 
> https://www.patreon.com/TheAnthology
> 
> Fun facts:
> 
> This took 6 months for the first draft and 8 months for the 3 revisions!  
> Word count: 87159  
> Pages(according to google docs): 303  
> Another "How To..." Is planned, but won't be ready for some time, there's a lot more to write before we can get to....... that.
> 
> I wanna thank my brother for listening to me fixate on plot elements for a year, and i want to thank Deadcanons for reading it and helping keep me grounded.  
> I wanna thank my friend Dax, for motivating me to finish, and i wanna thank my friend laura for helping me name chapter 6 properly.  
> I want to thank all of you for reading. it means a lot to me.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, Thanks for taking interest in this project. But i'm going to be upfront. AO3 is not my first choice to post this work. my original vision for this project incorporates color and fonts in various locations to give specific characters and moments a bit more flair and pop. My intent in posting it here is to make good on a promise to release the book somewhere so i can get more feedback. I want one day for there to be a better edited version of this in physical form one day, wacky fonts and all. I do hope that you all enjoy regardless of the flaws it has. It does have numerous. in any case. I'll occasionally put notes in. Please continue to enjoy How to Change the Past.


End file.
